The comma in this sentence, feels wrong to me.
If I put a comma in this sentence, it feels fine.
what are the rules? I'm asking cos some of the stuff we write in the office goes out the door so it has to be right (and also cos i'm a bit sad that way)
2006-07-29 22:03:41 · 14 answers · asked by wild_eep 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
PS the thing about the first sentence is that sometimes sentences of that form can get very long in a technical document, which means that my colleagues just can't resist putting in a damn comma. I take the little blighters out but I get the third degree for it.
2006-07-29 22:13:39 · update #1
Ah! expatturk has a good point. But her second sentence is a good example.
"In your second sentence, you are correctly separating an introductory adverbial dependent clause (the first one) RIGHT_HERE from the main clause."
RIGHT_HERE is where my colleagues would have stuffed an ill-fitting comma. I think that's a more subtle rule because the verb and subject did stay together in that one (I think)
2006-07-29 22:16:44 · update #2
It sounds like you are still confused about the first sentence, but have figured out that the second sentence is correct and why. The first sentence has absolutely no correct place to put a comma. The comma there is separating the subject from its verb. Without the comma, the sentence is perfectly correct. You also cannot just put a comma in a sentence just to have one; the comma must be correctly placed if you want one. In your detail question it looks like you separated a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence from the rest of the sentence with a comma. This is also a completely incorrect placement since prepositional phrases at the end of the sentence are more intimately bound into the verb phrase than are prepositional phrases at the beginning of a sentence, which CAN be optionally separated from the sentence with a comma.
2006-07-30 02:30:29 · answer #1 · answered by Taivo 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Mmmm, I'm a bit sad this way too lol. The "o" level I got over 40 years ago has been pretty useful but seems less relevant today....... ya no wot I meen like, spellin' n punktwayshan? :-). But I will have to throw in my two penneth. I would say both of your examples and the punctuation used could be acceptable. It depends how you are saying the first one, with, or without, a pause. (Maybe should have been a semicolon in there somewhere, a "punctuation mark of intermediate value between a comma and a full stop" lol) As has been said, generally write it as you would be expressing it orally. I doubt there are many will be knowledgeable enough to challenge your choice of punctuation these days, if you use that rule.
2006-07-30 05:57:01 · answer #2 · answered by Dick s 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a rule of thumb insert commas where you would normally take a breath when speaking the sentence, also if you are making an aside within the sentence.
There are, as I am sure you are aware, many correct grammatical rules to apply, but, these days I, being lazy, just go for the above approximation and do not often get pulled up on it...
Hope it is a 'good enough' answer for you...
( doubtless, this will be, ripped to shreds so, I think I'll, go put the kettle, on, to make a, cuppa ).
2006-07-30 05:13:57 · answer #3 · answered by Gone 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In your first sentence, you are separating the subject from the verb. That's incorrect.
In your second sentence, you are correctly separating an introductory adverbial dependent clause (the first one) from the main clause.
By the way, a clause contains both subject and verb.
2006-07-30 05:12:54 · answer #4 · answered by expatturk 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Go to the library or bookshop and find a book called 'Eats, shoots and leaves'. It explains the use of punctuation in English.
By the way, the comma in your first sentence is wrong. A comma is to be used as a kind of breathing space. Think about how you speak when you write and you won't go far wrong.
2006-07-30 05:09:05 · answer #5 · answered by alan p 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The second sentence is a conditional statement of the form
If X, then Y,
even though the 'then' is omitted.
The first sentence is subject then predicate, and the comma feels wrong to me there as well.
2006-07-30 05:08:03 · answer #6 · answered by TwilightWalker97 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cannot use a comma between the subject and verb of the sentence as you did in the first sentence.
2006-07-30 05:43:04 · answer #7 · answered by turquoise 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A comma is a standoff, a pause. A simple way to tell if it is right is to say it; speak the sentence and pause at the comma (your "feelings" in your sentences). If it is awkward, it doesn't need to be there. Alternatively, and when "adding" to the start of a sentence (as in this case), the pause will be right.
2006-07-30 05:13:05 · answer #8 · answered by druid 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ignore all the replies except the excellent one by Taivo. It's not a case of 'feeling' something is right or wrong (unless you're writing avant-garde poetry I suppose). You can't punctuate correctly if you don't understand the (usually) simple (yes simple) rules of English grammar which you need to write a postcard or to write 'War and Peace'. My friend Peter frequently txts me - at enormous length - but there are no punctuation marks in sight. Time saving my foot - he may be saving time but I have to re-read it 4 or 5 times!
2006-07-30 19:02:03 · answer #9 · answered by Steve K 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
read it back-you got it right on the bits youve put in so just apply that rule to most of the stuff you do-and dont sweat it either way because its becoming less and less relevant by the day.
not too long from now and language will have evolved to the point where we're all talking in txt speak and such,so itll be adios to the comma and all his friends-what a pity
2006-07-30 05:08:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋