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The world is full of simple sentences, such as …

• The loan shark was the most affable of men.
• Don’t eat before the potatoes are cooked.

But sentences are not always simple. We often wedge extra words or phrases in, making them more complicated. When parenthetical expressions, clauses, etc. are wedge into otherwise simple sentences, we call on the workhorse of the English language – the comma – to keep things understandable.

Let’s take the previous two sentences and wedge a phrase or word into each without using commas:

• The loan shark paid on time each month was the most affable of men.
• Don’t eat Marilyn before the potatoes are cooked.

You see the problem? The first sentence could mean that the loan shark paid on time each month and was a nice guy. Or it could mean that he was a nice guy if he was paid on time each month. The second sentence could mean that we aren’t supposed to eat Marilyn (this would make a juicy story) until the potatoes are cooked. Or it could be someone addressing Marilyn and telling her not to eat before the potatoes are cooked.

Here are the two sentences with commas in place:

• The loan shark, paid on time each month, was the most affable of men.
• Don’t eat, Marilyn, before the potatoes are cooked.

How did people ever get along without commas before Shakespeare invented them?

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