There’s no comma between the subject and the verb in standard English.

Outline to guide you through:

• Set the scene: a quick look at comma quirks on the English assessment.

• The big rule: never put a comma between a subject and its verb.

• Why people trip up: quick myths and how to spot them.

• When commas do show up, but not between subject and verb.

• Clear examples you can memorize.

• Tiny habit tips to keep your writing clean.

• Why this matters for the English portion of the assessment.

• A few quick practice prompts to check you’ve got it.

Why this topic matters, and why now

If you’ve ever wondered where a comma should sit, you’re not alone. In the English portion of the Accuplacer-like assessment, punctuation isn’t just decoration. It’s a tool to signal meaning. The moment you place a comma where it doesn’t belong, you risk making your sentence feel hesitant or even off-balance. Let me explain with a simple, universal rule you can carry anywhere you write.

The core rule: no comma between the subject and the verb

Here’s the bottom line: when the subject and the verb sit side by side and form a tight bond, they should stay unbroken by a comma. For example:

• The dog barks.

• She writes quickly.

Between the subject “The dog” and the verb “barks,” there’s no pause. If you drop in a comma here—The dog, barks.—you’re telling your reader to pause a moment that doesn’t exist in the sentence’s natural flow. It’s a tiny mark, but it can muddle meaning or slow the rhythm in a way that feels off to a listener or reader.

Why this rule trips people up

Many of us have learned to insert commas for clarity in longer sentences, so the idea that a single comma could interrupt the core pair feels almost logical. The trap looks like this:

• The student, writes the essay, carefully.

That seems tidy, but it’s wrong. The subject “The student” and the verb “writes” should connect directly. Commas belong in other places—before or after introductory words or phrases, around nonessential clauses, or to set off extra details—but not between subject and verb when they’re directly linked.

A quick look at the common misplacements

• Incorrect: The cat, sits on the mat.

Correct: The cat sits on the mat.

• Incorrect: My friend, runs every morning.

Correct: My friend runs every morning.

What about commas in other parts of the sentence?

Commas can appear in several valid positions, and they help with clarity. For example:

• After introductory phrases: After a long day, I finally sat down to write.

• In nonessential information: The book, which I borrowed last week, is fascinating.

• Before a coordinating conjunction that links two independent clauses: The rain stopped, and the sun came out.

Notice how the commas here are not between the subject and the verb of the first clause, but around extra bits or between two complete thoughts.

Examples to anchor the rule

1. Simple, direct sentence:

• Correct: The clock ticks.

• Incorrect: The clock, ticks.

2. Same idea with a bigger sentence:

• Correct: The clock on the wall ticks loudly.

• Incorrect: The clock on the wall, ticks loudly.

3. When the sentence has two independent clauses:

• Correct: The clock ticks, and the room grows quiet.

• Here the comma is before the conjunction that links two full thoughts, not inside the first thought.

How this ties into the English assessment

On the test, you’ll see questions about whether a comma is needed in a given sentence. If a choice asks you to identify whether a comma should appear between the subject and the verb, the correct stance is simple: no. If you’re tempted to answer “Yes, for clarity,” pause. Check whether the comma sits between the subject and its verb in the same clause. If it does, that’s a red flag. The subject and verb should stay connected unless there’s a deeper structure—like a nonessential phrase or a compound sentence—at play elsewhere in the line.

A few practical tips you can actually use

• Read aloud in your head. If you naturally hear a pause between the subject and the verb in a short sentence, you’re likely misplacing a comma. In ordinary statements, the subject and verb don’t take a breath between them.

• Look for the entire clause first. If you can move the subject and verb together and still have a clean sentence, there’s probably no need for a comma between them.

• Separate the heavy lifting parts. If you have extra information sandwiched in the middle of the subject and verb, that’s where a comma might land, but only as part of that larger insertion—never right between S and V.

• Keep it simple in the basics. Strong writers lean on simple, direct structures for the core message. The more complex your sentence, the more careful you must be about where commas appear.

• Use other punctuation to guide rhythm. If you want a momentary pause, consider a dash or parentheses for nonessential details, but remember those aren’t substitutes for the missing link between subject and verb.

A tiny recipe to cement the habit

• Step 1: Identify the main clause. Spot the subject and its verb.

• Step 2: Check if there’s a nonessential addition after the subject. If yes, the extra bits travel around the main clause, not inside it.

• Step 3: If you’re linking two independent clauses, you can use a comma before the conjunction, but only between two complete thoughts.

• Step 4: If in doubt, remove the comma and read again. If the sentence still sounds right, you probably didn’t need one in that spot.

A few more nuanced examples

• The student who studied diligently earned an A. (No comma between “student” and “studied.” The subject is “The student who studied diligently,” and the verb is “earned.” The nonessential part “who studied diligently” is a clause that follows the subject, not the space between S and V.)

• The books on the shelf collect dust. (Again, no comma between “books” and “collect.” The phrase “on the shelf” is a prepositional detail; the core is clear as a single unit.)

• The team, which trains every morning, wins games. (Here the commas enclose a nonessential clause, but the main subject is still “The team,” and the verb is “wins.” The insertion does not break the S-V link.)

Why it matters beyond test questions

Clear punctuation isn’t just a box to check. It shapes how readers understand you. When a sentence runs smoothly, ideas flow like a conversation—quick, confident, and easy to follow. Mess with the rhythm, and your reader stumbles. That’s the kind of friction you want to minimize, whether you’re writing an email to a professor, a post for a class blog, or a short essay in a course assignment.

A few friendly digressions that still loop back

• If you love word nerd trivia, you’ll notice that many punctuation habits are about rhythm more than rules. Writers who listen to the cadence of their sentences tend to place commas only where they genuinely help the pace. That’s a practical mindset for any language learner or student facing a timed assessment.

• You’ll also encounter more complex sentence structures, like introductory dependent clauses and participial phrases. When you see those, it’s easy to overcorrect and sprinkle commas haphazardly. The discipline: keep the core S-V connection clean, then layer in the extras.

• Even in the digital age, where keystrokes fly and emails arrive in seconds, this habit translates into clearer communication. The same rule helps when you draft a quick message to a group or contribute a line in a collaborative document.

Closing thought: a tiny mark, a big impact

The question you posed—whether a comma should appear between the subject and the verb—has a clean, confident answer: no. In everyday writing, and in the English assessment that mirrors real-world usage, the direct link between the subject and its verb should stay unbroken. When you keep that bond intact, you’ll find your sentences read with ease and your ideas travel with purpose.

If you’d like, I can share a short set of fresh example sentences for you to test yourself. A few minutes of quick checks can make a big difference in how you approach sentence structure in real writing. And if you ever feel the rhythm falter, remember: slow down, locate the core clause, and let the rest of the sentence circle back to support it. That’s a move even seasoned writers rely on when they want their words to land with clarity and confidence.