Page 208 - Basic English Usage

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If we put adverbs in unusual places in a clause, we often put commas
before and after them.
My father, however, did not agree.
Jane had, surprisingly, paid for everything.
We were, believe it or not, in love with each other.

In sentences that begin with conjunctions, we usually put a comma after
the first clause.
if you're ever in London, come and see me.
As soon as we stop, get out of the car.

We do not put commas before ‘reported speech’ clauses.
Everybody realized that | was a foreigner
(NOT Everybody reatizedthat ...)
i didn't know where | should go.
(NOT tefertkrew where ...)
. Fred wondered if lunch was ready.
(NOT Freatwondered-f ... )
We do not usually use commas between grammatically separate
sentences (in places where a full stop would be possible).
The blue dress was warmer. On the other hand, the purple one was
prettier.
(OR The blue dress was warmer; on the otherhand ... )
(NOT +he-bitre cress-wasswarmer-omthe-ctherhand ...)

In numbers, we often use a comma after the thousands.
3,164 = three thousand, one hundred and sixty-four
We do not use commas in decimals.
3-5 = three point five or three and a half
(NOT 3-Sthree comme tive)

For the use of commas in relative clauses, see 280

267 punctuation: dash

We often use a dash (—) in informal writing. A dash can come before an
afterthought.
We'll be arriving on Monday morning — at least, | think so.
Dashes are common in personal letters instead of colons or semi-
colons, or instead of brackets.
There are three things | can never remember —~ names, faces, and
I've forgotten the other.
We had a great time in Greece — the kids really loved it.
My mother — who rarely gets angry — really lost her temper.