Common Phrases

All right - Generally, "All right" will be its own sentence. "All right" is a colloquialism for "It is all right." "Alright" is not an accepted spelling for our purposes.

Example:
All right. Let's talk about this tomorrow.

Because - Generally, "because" will not need a comma before or after it occurs in a sentence.

Example:
The cat was also a witch because it was wearing a pointy hat.

Fillers: like, you know, I mean (in some contexts)
Not Fillers: kind of, sort of (as they introduce uncertainty in the sentence)
Nonfluencies: um, uh, erm.

Like - For us, "Like" will generally have four usages:

Filler- "Like" should be offset with comma when used as filler, meaning it isn't critical to the sentence and could be replaced with "uh" or "um."

Example:
It was, like, really crazy.

Comparatively - When a comparison is being drawn, do not use commas.

Example:
That cat was like a tiger really.

Introducing dialogue - If a phrase following like can be considered dialog, use a comma after "like" and treat the phrase as a quote.

Example:
And then Marcia was like, "There's no way I'm going to the football game."

As a verb - to like something.

Example:
I really, really, really, really, really, really like you.

You know - "You know" is almost always used as filler. It should be offset with commas.

Example:
You know, it was a great house.
You know it was a great house.

Note: To the reader, the above statement has two different meanings. The first is using you know as filler. The second reads such that the speaker is stating as a fact: You know that it was a great house.

Well, you know, it's just that kind of thing.

I mean - "I mean" is almost always used as filler. It should be offset with commas.

Example:
I mean, it's like it never even happened.
I mean to say that you're very special to me.

Note: The second example is less common usage of "I mean" not as filler but very intentional "I mean this," no commas necessary.