How to use commas in Spanish

Lists

Just as in English, Spanish commas are used to separate items in a list or series.

Example:

Todas las mañanas tomo un té, tostadas, un yogur y una pieza de fruta. Every morning, I have a cup of tea, some toast, a yoghurt and a piece of fruit.

Unlike in English, Spanish never uses a comma before the final conjunction in the list (y, e, o, u, ni).

Spanish:

Todas las mañanas tomo un té, tostadas, un yogur y una pieza de fruta.

not: … un yogur, y una pieza de fruta

English:

Every morning, I have a cup of tea, some toast, a yoghurt(,) and a piece of fruit.

in English, the Oxford comma (i.e. the comma before and) is optional

If the list ends in etc., this is preceded by a comma in Spanish. If the list ends in an elipsis (…), this is placed after the final element without a comma and without a space.

Examples:

Siempre desayuno lo mismo: un té o un café, tostadas, etc. I always have the same thing for breakfast, a tea or a coffee, some toast, etc.

Siempre desayuno lo mismo: un té o un café, tostadas...

Explanatory phrases

Any sentence element that plays a clarifying or explanatory role is set off by commas.

These explanatory phrases (los incisos) can take many forms: nouns, noun phrases, non-defining relative clauses, clauses with the gerund and participle, etc.

As long as they are only providing supplementary information rather than defining a concept, these phrases always take a comma, wherever they appear in the sentence.

Examples:

Contando de nuevo con la participación de Penélope Cruz, la última película de Almodóvar recibió muy buena crítica. Once again starring Penélope Cruz, Almodóvar’s latest film has received excellent reviews.

El director, Almodóvar, cuenta con una larga y exitosa trayectoria. The director, Almodóvar, has had a long and successful career.

La ultima película de Almodóvar ha tenido muy buena crítica, como todas. Almodóvar’s latest film has received excellent reviews, like all of his films.

Direct speech

Like in English, Spanish uses a comma after direct speech to introduce the speaker; unlike English, the comma appears outside of Spanish quotation marks.

Example:

«Estuve en Londres el año pasado», dijo Susana. “I was in London last year,” said Susana.

not: «Estuve en Londres el año pasado,» dijo Susana.

If the speaker precedes the direct speech, Spanish uses a colon rather than a comma before the quotation marks:

Example:

Susana dijo: «Estuve en Londres el año pasado». Susana said, “I was in London last year.”

not: Susana dijo, «Estuve…

Addressing people

When addressing a person directly, we use a comma with their name.

Examples:

Susana, recuerda coger el paraguas antes de salir. Susana, remember to take your umbrella before you leave.

Recuerda, Susana, coger el paraguas antes de salir. Remember to take your umbrella before you leave, Susana.

Recuerda coger el paraguas antes de salir, Susana. Remember to take your umbrella before you leave, Susana.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions (las conjunciones) are linking words that connect clauses. When they connect clauses of the same grammatical value (e.g., two main clauses), they are known as coordinating conjunctions (las conjunciones coordinantes).

Whether we use a comma before a coordinating conjunction depends on its type.

• copulative conjunctions (e.g. ni, no solo… sino, tanto… como, etc.) never take a comma (exception: así como)

Examples:

La película que hemos visto hoy, así como la que vimos ayer, se considera cine de autor. The film we watched today as well as the one we watched yesterday are classed as arthouse cinema.

La película que hemos visto hoy se considera cine de autor, así como la que vimos ayer. The film we watched today is classed as arthouse cinema, just like the film we saw yesterday.

• adversative conjunctions (e.g. pero, aunque, mas, etc.) are always introduced by a comma

Example:

No me gustó la película que vimos ayer, pero creo que la interpretación del protagonista fue muy buena. I didn’t like the film we watched yesterday, but I thought the main character’s performance was very good.

• disjunctive and distributive conjunctions that are used in pairs (e.g. o…, o…; bien…, bien…; ya…, ya…; etc.) always take commas; the conjunction o/u does not

Examples:

Puedes endulzar el té, bien con azúcar, bien con miel. You can sweeten the tea with either sugar or honey.

but: ¿Quieres azúcar con el té o miel? Do you want sugar with your tea or honey?

excepto, salvo, menos

• conjunctions that mean except (= excepto, salvo, menos) are always written with a comma in Spanish.

Examples:

No tengo plantas en casa, excepto un tiesto con perejil en la cocina. I don’t have any plants at home, except for a pot of parsley in the kitchen.

No me gustan las películas sangrientas, salvo las de Quentin Tarantino. I don’t like gory films, except for Quentin Tarantino films.

Trabajo todos los días, menos los domingos. I work every day except Sundays.

Connectives

Connectives (los conectores discursivos) are linking words. In Spanish, they are always set off by commas.

Example:

Nos dimos toda la prisa que pudimos, pero, con todo, llegamos veinte minutos tarde. We hurried as best we could, but we were still 20 minutes late.

Omitted verb

When a verb is omitted from a clause to avoid repetition, said clause is preceded by a comma.

Example:

Yo estudio ciencias naturales; Noelia estudia administración y dirección de empresas. I study natural sciences; Noelia studies business administration and management.

→ Yo estudio ciencias naturales; Noelia, administración y dirección de empresas. I study natural sciences; Noelia, business administration and management.

Places & addresses

Like English, Spanish also uses a comma to separate each element of an address.

Example:

Vive en la calle Mayor, número 12, 3º izquierda. She lives at number 12, Calle Mayor, 3rd floor to the left.

However, parentheses rather than commas are used to specify a precise geographical location such as a town.

Example:

La localidad de Cubelas (Lugo) ofrece un panorama auténticamente gallego. The town of Cubelas, Lugo, offers an authentic Galician panorama.

That said, it is increasingly common to see commas used in place of parentheses in this case, largely due to the growing influence of English, although this is technically incorrect.

Example:

La localidad de Cubelas, Lugo, ofrece un panorama auténticamente gallego. The town of Cubelas, Lugo, offers an authentic Galician panorama.

Numbers

Where we use a decimal point in English, Spanish uses a comma.

Examples:

3,1416 3.1416

1300,28 1300.28

Dates

When writing out the date, use a comma to separate the day of the week from the month.

Example:

Hoy es martes, 26 de mayo de 2009. Today is Tuesday, 26th May, 2009.

When signing a document, we first write the location followed by a comma and the date of signing.

Examples:

Lugo, 27 de agosto de 2018. Lugo, 27th August, 2018.

En Lugo, a 27 de agosto de 2018. Lugo, 27th August, 2018.

Conditional and concessive clauses

Conditional clauses (las construcciones condicionales) are punctuated in the same way as English: when the if-clause comes first, it is followed by a comma; when the main clause comes first, no comma is required.

Example:

Si vas al supermercado, compra leche. If you go to the supermarket, buy some milk.

Compra leche si vas al supermercado. Buy some milk if you go to the supermarket.

Concessive clauses (las oraciones concesivas) follow the same pattern. When the subordinate clause comes first, it is followed by a comma; when the main clause comes first, no comma is needed.

Example:

Aunque he dormido diez horas, me siento muy cansada. Although I slept for ten hours, I still feel tired.

Me siento muy cansada pese a haber dormido diez horas. I feel tired despite having slept for ten hours.

Averbials

Adverbials (los complementos circunstanciales) are groups of words that act like a verb complement and give more information about how an action occurs (e.g. manner, place, time etc.).

Comma placement depends on their position in the sentence:

• if the adverbial comes after the verb, no comma is needed

Example:

Laura y yo quedamos en un bar del centro para tomar algo. Laura and I met at a bar in town for a drink.

• if the adverbial comes at the beginning of the sentence, it is usually set off by a comma; if it is particularly short, the comma can be omitted

Examples:

Desde que tengo cuatro años, hago una ruta por el sur de Francia todos los veranos. Ever summer since I was four years old, I’ve travelled to the South of France.

En verano haré una ruta en bicicleta por el sur de Francia. In summer, I’m going to cycle around the South of France.

Interjections

Interjections (las interjecciones) are onomatopoeic words that express emotion. These always take a comma in Spanish, even when they are used with exclamation marks.

Examples:

—¡Hala!, ayer fuisteis todos al cine. —Oh! You all went to the cinema yesterday.

—¡Uy!, olvidé preguntarte si querías venir con nosotros. —Oops! I forgot to ask you if you wanted to come with us.

—Bah, no importa. Estoy muy ocupado. —Bah, nevermind. I’m very busy.

—¡Ay!, ¿pero dónde tendré la cabeza? —Oh! What was I thinking?

—Pues avisadme la próxima vez, ¿eh? —Well, let me know next time, hey?