Comma

boron · Aug 21, 2009

Comma Before Like and Though

1. Food intolerances determined by presence of IgA antibodies in the stool are not food allergies.

-- Is this a sentece within the sentence?

2.a. Fruits like apples and pears are high in fructose.
b. Some fruits, like apples and pears, are lying on the table.

--Are these examples of a restrictive (a) and non-restrictive (b) clause and the same rule applies as in that/which case, where comma comes before which?

3. This is not always true, though.
We have fresh bread every day, of course.
Knife is dangerous, because it is sharp.

--Commas always before though, of course and because?

4. In food intolerances, symptoms are mostly confined to gastrointestinal tract.

--Lately, I've developed a habit to put commas even after few introducing words. Anything wrong with that?

Yes, I did read all those comatose threads.

Chase · Aug 21, 2009

boron said:
Lately, I've developed a habit to put commas even after few introducing words. Anything wrong with that?

Commas always before though, of course and because?

In general, inserting commas as "a habit" or "always" leads to mistakes.

Comma placement depends on sentence structure, rather than before or after a certain word. For example, lots of writers wrongly believe they should always put a comma before and or but.

Such mindsets tend to produce awkward sentences.

boron · Aug 21, 2009

Chase said:
In general, inserting commas as "a habit" or "always" leads to mistakes.

And from what exact reason you've put it in?

Maryn · Aug 21, 2009

boron said:
1. Food intolerances determined by presence of IgA antibodies in the stool are not food allergies.

-- Is this a sentece within the sentence?

Nope. You've got a complete sentence in Food intolerances [subject] are not [linking verb which joins the subject to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject] food allergies [subject complement, the phrase being linked]. What remains, determined by presence of IgA antibodies in the stool, is not a sentence but a restrictive phrase which limits the meaning of what it describes, food intolerances, ans therefore is not set off with commas. Whew, huh?

I admit, I had to haul out my favorite grammar book to be sure I was right about the names. The usage I'm solid on, but a good explanation includes terminology.

Maryn, who'll leave the other parts for other people

Seaclusion2 · Aug 21, 2009

Here's my favorite online resource for commas:

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp

Richard

Fallen · Aug 24, 2009

boron said:
3. This is not always true, though.
We have fresh bread every day, of course.
Knife is dangerous, because it is sharp.

--Commas always before though, of course and because?

Though and Of course need a comma because, in the sense you've used them, they're 'Interjections': expresses of emotion that have no syntactic tie to the rest of the sentence: therefore they need to be seperated with a comma. They're not the same as 'because' (conjunction) which does have a grammatical tie to the sentence (so I wouldn't use a comma 'Knife is dangerous beacause it's sharp')

4. In food intolerances, symptoms are mostly confined to gastrointestinal tract.

--Lately, I've developed a habit to put commas even after few introducing words. Anything wrong with that?

Nope.

Yes, I did read all those comatose threads

Lol.

.

And we answered... kind souls, ain't we...

Chase · Aug 24, 2009

In general, inserting commas as "a habit" or "always" leads to mistakes.

boron said:
And from what exact reason you've put it in?

"In general" is an introductory element. I've taken it from another part of the sentence (after "always" or "mistakes") and moved it to the beginning.

A comma isn't absolutely required in some writers' styles; however, a comma is always correct after any introductory element. Thus, it's okay in my personal writing style.

dawinsor · Aug 24, 2009

boron said:
2.a. Fruits like apples and pears are high in fructose.
b. Some fruits, like apples and pears, are lying on the table.

--Are these examples of a restrictive (a) and non-restrictive (b) clause and the same rule applies as in that/which case, where comma comes before which?

Yea, they're restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers respectively, though not clauses. A clause has both a subject and a verb. And yes, they follow the same comma rules as that/which.

Comma

boron

Health writer

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

boron

Health writer

Maryn

I Tried

Seaclusion2

Extraneous Comma Slayer

Fallen

Stood at the coalface

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism

dawinsor

Dorothy A. Winsor