Is the comma really that important?
The quick - and correct - answer to this question is: YES!An incorrect comma placement can give your text a completely different meaning than intended, and an email to your boss just looks better when the commas are in the right places. In the worst-case scenario, a comma can be a matter of life or death!
Just look at these three examples:
But we must make a confession: Danes themselves are not always great at using commas. Over the last 30 years, we have been tossed around between different comma rules, which have likely confused us more than they have helped. There has been a real "Comma War" – you can read about it here. So, when you soon become a master at placing commas in Danish, don’t be surprised if you find mistakes in your Danish friends’ and colleagues’ texts or even when reading the news in the newspaper or online.
Now, to the point: How do you place a comma?
When it comes to the so-called grammatical comma (det grammatiske komma), there are two basic grammatical elements that we must be familiar with: subjects and verbs.If you attend Danish classes at Studieskolen, you have certainly heard your teacher talk about these concepts for hours. And NOW is when you will truly put that knowledge to use.
The main rule for the grammatical comma is that…
Every time we have two pairs of subject-verb in the same sentence, they must be separated by a comma.
Rule #1: Place a comma between main and/or subordinate clauses
Let’s look at an example:
- Børnene leger i haven, og forældrene drikker kaffe. (The children are playing in the garden, and the parents are drinking coffee.)
Here, we have two subjects: børnene (the children) og forældrene (the parents), and two conjugated verbs: leger (are playing) and drikker (are drinking) which form two pairs: ”børnene leger” (the children are playing), ”forældrene drikker” (the parents are drinking).
Rule number 1 means that we need a comma to separate these two pairs. If we have a conjunction in the sentence (as in this case: og = "and"), the comma is always placed right before the conjunction.
Here are more examples:
- Enten er han til fodbold, eller også er han på arbejde. (Either he’s at football practice, or he’s at work.)
- Det kan være farligt, for du kan brække benet. (It can be dangerous, because you could break your leg.)
- Jeg havde spist en pizza, men jeg var stadig sulten. (I had eaten a pizza, but I was still hungry.)
Whether the two sentences are main or subordinate clauses doesn’t matter. The comma is there regardless.
Our first example could therefore also be a main clause followed by a subordinate clause:
- Børnene leger i haven, mens forældrene drikker kaffe. (The children are playing in the garden, while the parents are drinking coffee.)
Or a main clause with a preceding subordinate clause:
- Mens forældrene drikker kaffe, leger børnene i haven. (While the parents are drinking coffee, the children are playing in the garden.)
If, on the other hand, we only have one subject with two associated verbs, we do not use a comma.
See these examples:
- Børnene leger i haven og drikker saftevand. (The children are playing in the garden and drinking squash.)
- Børnene spiller bold og kører på cykel. (The children are playing ball and riding bikes.)
- Børnene drikker saftevand og leger gemmeleg. (The children are drinking squash and playing hide-and-seek.)
In all these sentences, we only have one subject, “the children,” so we do not need a comma, regardless of the number of conjugated verbs.
A few exceptions to the rule: Imperative commas and “the missing verb”
Of course, it shouldn’t be TOO easy. There are a few situations where there is a comma in the sentence even though there is either no subject or no conjugated verb.
First, see these examples with a missing subject:
- Kom lige herhen, og drik dit saftevand. (Come over here, and drink your squash.)
- Gå over til de voksne, og lad dem hjælpe dig. (Go over to the adults, and let them help you.)
In these two sentences, all the verbs are in the imperative form (come, drink, go, let), and we seemingly have no subjects in the sentence. We still place a comma between the two parts because the imperative form has an inherent subject, namely “you.
“Kom herhen” means, in other words, that “you should come here.” Similarly, “drik dit saftevand” is simply a more direct way of saying, “you should drink your squash.” The sentences are therefore considered grammatically as two main clauses, and thus the comma is placed between them, right before the conjunction.
A small exception to the exception: When the imperative forms are very close to each other, we don’t use a comma. For example, ”Kom og se!” (Come and see!) and "Rend og hop!" (Run and jump!).
Another exception to the rule about subject and conjugated verb can be seen in this sentence:
- Børnene drikker saftevand, forældrene kaffe. (The children drink squash, the parents coffee.)
If we count subjects and verbs, it is clear that we are missing a verb in the second part of the sentence. We do not have two subject-verb pairs, but we still need to place a comma. The verb “drink” is inherently understood in the second part of the sentence. So, even though the sentence is incomplete, we still place a comma as if the verb were present.
Rule #2: Commas in lists
Like other languages, Danish also has commas that are not grammatically determined. This applies when we list three or more items. Therefore, we have commas in the following situations:
- De taler dansk, engelsk og spansk. (They speak Danish, English and Spanish.)
- I fritiden elsker de at spille fodbold, besøge venner og gå på bar. (In their free time, they love to play football, visit friends and go to bars.)
- Han har været i både Portugal, Italien og Kroatien denne sommer. (He has been to Portugal, Italy and Croatia this summer.)
Notice that in lists, there is never a comma before "og".
Rule #3: Comma with independent sentence elements
The last important rule is the comma with the so-called 'independent sentence elements', which function as a type of parenthetical addition to the text. In other words, information that can be omitted, just like information in parentheses.
- Jeg elsker at studere dansk, især grammatikken. (I love studying Danish, especially the grammar.)
- Vi bestod alle sammen testen, glade og udmattede. (We all passed the test, happy and exhausted.)
- Min lærer, som jeg har haft siden modul 1, har lært mig alt om kommaer. (My teacher, whom I have had since module 1, has taught me everything about commas.)
A little bonus rule – perhaps particularly useful for foreigners with English as their background
A common mistake, especially made by English speakers when placing commas in Danish, is putting a comma after introductory adverbs. But where in English you absolutely must remember the comma after words like unfortunately, actually and suddenly, this is never the case in Danish. Just look at these examples:
- Desværre kommer jeg ikke til festen på fredag. (Unfortunately, I won't be coming to the party on Friday.)
- Faktisk synes jeg ikke, det lyder som den allerbedste idé. (Actually, I don't think it sounds like the best idea.)
- Pludselig kunne jeg ikke huske, hvornår vi skulle mødes. (Suddenly, I couldn't remember when we were supposed to meet.)
Although these sentences may look incorrect to the English-trained eye, the lack of commas after desværre (unfortunately), faktisk (actually), and pludselig (suddenly) is perfectly correct Danish punctuation.
Now you have learned the most important rules for placing commas in Danish. Good luck using them!