TICTAC Comma Rule

What’s the most important comma for clear legal writing? It’s beyond dispute. Follow this Rule:

Two

Independent

Clauses

Take

A

Comma

The first letters in the words spell TICTAC, and I’m dubbing this rule the TICTAC Comma Rule for future purposes unless someone has a better name.

🔷 RULE:  Always use a comma between 2 “independent clauses” in the same sentence.

🔷 DEFINITION:  An “independent clause” is a collection of words containing both:

(a) a verb; and 

(b) a noun that functions as the subject of that verb.

🔷 ILLUSTRATION: 

In the sentence, “The court granted the motion, and the plaintiff appealed,”

-“court” is the noun acting as the subject of the verb “granted” in the first independent clause, and 

-“plaintiff” is the noun acting as the subject of the verb “appealed” in the second independent clause.

You also could separate the clauses, and each would stand alone fine as a complete sentence: “The court granted the motion. The plaintiff appealed.”

When a sentence combines 2 independent clauses, there’s usually a “linking word” that joins the clauses. Common linking words are: and, but, nor, yet, so, for, and or.

👉👉 The Two-Independent-Clauses-Take-A-Comma (TICTAC) Rule requires that you put a comma AFTER the first independent clause and BEFORE the linking word. 

See the carousel for examples of how the TICTAC Rule works in the 3 most common situations.  ⤵️

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🗳️ Think “TICTAC” is silly?  What’s your memory device for this critical comma rule?

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

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