Summer is winding down here on the Upper Test Side. That chilly, back-to-school breeze is starting to blow as we shop for the hottest new school supplies and savor the last few days of sleeping in on the weekdays. And with the school year comes assignments, quizzes, projects, and a new season of standardized tests. And pumpkin spice lattes.

As everyone regroups and trades stories and gossip from the past few months, I, Grammar Girl, have got some particularly juicy intel to share with all of you. You see, I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Upper Test Side goings-on, and a certain mysterious punctuation mark has been quite busy this summer.

Without further ado, here’s all the dirt on the comma, one of the SAT Writing Test’s favorite sneaky little punctuation marks.

1. The first place the comma was seen was separating two independent clauses (i.e., complete ideas). I’ve got to hand it to the comma—he seems to be Mr. Popular, since you’ll never see him dividing two complete ideas without one of his FANBOYS following right behind him. You must have met the FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

It’s almost time to go back to school, but I’m not sure I can handle the early-morning separation from my pillow.

2. When he’s not hanging out with his FANBOYS, the comma can also be seen dividing other combinations of clauses. Sometimes he divides two incomplete ideas, and sometimes it’s a combination of complete and incomplete ideas. Without his FANBOYS, though, the comma doesn’t mess around between two complete ideas—that would put him in a sticky situation known as a “comma splice.”

If you hit the “off” button instead of “snooze” on your morning alarm, all hope is truly lost.

3. You’d think the comma would be tired from dividing all those clauses. But clauses are only half the story. Just wait until you hear about the commas that team up in pairs. If you’re a word, phrase, or relative clause that finds yourself between two commas, I hate to break it to you, but you just might be unnecessary information. You may be interesting and relevant, but the sentence would still make sense without you.

Your bed, which is infinitely cozier at 6 A.M. than it was last night at 10, seems to have a gravitational pull on your sleepy body.

If the unnecessary, bonus information is at the beginning or the end of the sentence, one comma is enough to get the job done.

However, if you’re late to school you’ll have to face the Wrath of Mom. Is it worth it?

4. Is there anything a comma can’t do? Well, for the purposes of the SAT, the list ends here—with lists. The very last place we saw the comma this summer was following every item in a list, including our fancy little Oxford comma before the final item.

Don’t forget to run through your mental checklist before you sprint out the door after hitting snooze one time too many: phone, wallet, keys, backpack, and mask.

It’s a love-hate relationship with commas, the squiggly little grammatical pauses that seem to pop up all over the place. Whether you’re a commaphile or a commaphobe, put aside your personal punctuation preferences on the SAT Writing and think back to these four comma rules, the only ones you’ll need for the test.

I wish you all a happy start to the school year. No matter the season, you know I’ll be watching and waiting, collecting all the scandalous scoops on all things grammar.

Stay tuned!

X, O, X, and O,

Grammar Girl