Using commas correctly (2)

When a noun is preceded by a series of two or more adjectives, the rule is to separate the adjectives with commas. The commas help the reader recognize that he is reading a series of adjectives and that a noun will appear immediately after the end of the series.

This assistance to the reader is especially important when one or more of the adjectives could otherwise be mistaken for a noun, as in the following example.

CORRECT EXAMPLE: Doreen placed the bolts in a light, square, steel pan on the workbench.

There is an exception to the rule: If the last adjective and the noun form a familiar phrase when combined, that phrase “feels like” a noun to the reader. Therefore the reader doesn’t need to see a comma before the last adjective.

CORRECT EXAMPLE: Ben is a thoughtful, energetic young man.

The adjective young and the noun man form the familiar phrase, young man.

Here’s an incorrect example that appeared in The Boston Globe last week.

INCORRECT EXAMPLE:

“It has been 14 years since lawyer Jan R. Schlichtmann of Beverly rocketed to fame as a result of ‘A Civil Action,’ the best-selling book made into a movie starring John Travolta that chronicled Schlichtmann’s nine-year legal battle against companies accused of leaking contaminants into drinking wells in Woburn….

“ ‘I sit here and almost drown in the irony of [a recent lawsuit],’ the wiry, 58-year-old replied in his wood-paneled office…”

To the reader, the adjectival phrase, 58-year-old (the word man is implied), feels like a noun. Therefore, the comma after wiry is not needed. In fact, the presence of the comma is confusing. The reader pauses and silently asks, “Why is that comma there?”

The Takeaway: When a noun is preceded by a series of two or more adjectives, place commas between the adjectives. Exception: If the last adjective and the noun form a familiar phrase when combined, that phrase “feels like” a noun to the reader. Therefore, do not place a comma before the last adjective.