Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Commas: Introductory Phrases

This is a very common use of the comma. It’s easier to learn by examples than technical academic terms:

Having forgotten to buy ingredients, I went out to dinner.
Because it was easier, we stayed in the for night.
At the conclusion of the meeting, we had donuts.

There’s a natural pause where the commas occur, so you’re pretty safe following your gut. If the introduction is followed by a verb (usually some form of is), however, there is no comma.

Walking next to the wagons were children.
Coming straight at him was the baseball.
At the conclusion of the meeting were donuts.

Trick to Remember
Look for the natural pause and you’ll be right most of the time.

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