Using Commas with As Well As
Using Commas with As Well As
A lot of people pay no attention to commas, and it shows. Commas are critical to reading enjoyment. They instruct readers when to pause or slow down just as other punctuation helps readers know when to get excited or surprised, stop for a long pause, stop-and-go more quickly, etc.
The key to the proper use of commas is knowing when and how to use them. Many writers seem to be confused when to use a comma with “as well as.”
Many of the “as” phrases present a problem: “such as,” “as in,” “as if,” “as though,” and more. But “as well as” seems to trip people up as much, if not more, than the others.
We’ll get to those other phrases in time; for now, let’s focus on “as well as.”
I did a search using Google’s Ngram viewer using “as well as” with and without a comma preceding it or following it. The results showed that people used a comma almost as much as they didn’t.
Although the results were surprising, they were understandable. “As well as” is used in situations where it doesn’t need a comma, but it is also used where it does require one.
The phrase “as well as” is often used to compare things, such as “She’s beautiful as well as intelligent.” When it’s used like this, it doesn’t need a comma. But it’s also used in ways that do need a comma.
Let’s look at a few definitions from Merriam-Webster’s and Dictionary.com before we go on.
Merriam-Webster’s
: and in addition : AND
brave as well as loyal
as well as preposition
Definition of as well as (Entry 2 of 2)
- in addition to : BESIDES
the coach, as well as the team, is ready
Dictionary.com
as well ,
in addition; also; too:
She insisted on directing the play and on producing it as well. equally: The town grew as well because of its location as because of its superb climate. as well as, as much or as truly as; equally as: Joan is witty as well as intelligent.
Let’s look at the examples provided by the dictionaries:
- He’s brave as well as loyal.
- The coach, as well as the team, is ready.
- Joan is witty as well as intelligent
In the first example, we’re saying he’s brave and loyal. In that case, no comma is needed. The sentence flows (reads well) without a pause.
In the second example, “as well as the team” seems more like an afterthought. It’s like saying “The coach is ready. Oh, yeah, the team is too.” You could also read it as “The coach is ready in addition to the team.”
When you have a similar situation — where the person or item mentioned after “as well as” seems like an aside or something less important — then you should use a comma.
In the last example: “Joan is pretty as well as intelligent,” it seems obvious that “as well as” is used as a conjunction (a connecting word like and), and since it is not connecting two independent clauses, no comma is necessary.
Let’s look at a few more examples.
- Barbara, as well as Tammy, is going to the party.
- Sean and Maddy, as well as Nora and Bruce, are going to the beach.
- He doesn’t play golf as well as his father
In the first and second examples, “as well as” is used to offset two asides, so commas are necessary on both sides of the phrase.
Also note how in the first example, even though we mention Barbara and Tammy, we used a singular verb form while in the example with Sean and Maddy, we used a plural.
The reason is because “as well as” does not make the subject a compound subject which would require the plural. This only happens in cases where you combine the nouns, in effect, making more than one subject.
- Barbara and Tammy are going to the party.
In the above case, there is no aside simply a conjunction (connecting word) which is used to create multiple subjects: Barbara and Tammy.
In the third example, we state “He doesn’t play golf as well as his father.” In that sentence, we’re using as well as to compare. We’re comparing how well he plays golf to how well his father plays. No comma is necessary.
Summary
That sums it up for “as well as” and comma usage.
🐗 If you are adding a phrase or clause and using it as an aside, use a comma to offset it. And remember, if that phrase falls in the middle of the sentence, it needs commas on both sides (as we did above). If the phrase comes at the end of the sentence, only use a comma preceding it.
🐗 Any other time you use “as well as,” no comma is necessary.
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