Do we need to put a comma in there?

[faryan]

When her husband died she decided that she needed a change of air. so she sold the house in London and went to live in Tuscany.

Do we need to put a comma between the words 'died' and 'she' ?

[5jj]

When her husband died she decided that she needed a change of air., so she sold the house in London and went to live in Tuscany.

I don't think we need to, but it's fine to use one.

[TheParser]

When her husband died she decided that she needed a change of air. so she sold the house in London and went to live in Tuscany.

Do we need to put a comma between the words 'died' and 'she' ?

REMINDER: NOT A TEACHER


(1) I think that it would be helpful if you wrote:

When her husband died, she decided that she needed a change of

air. So she sold the house in London and went to live in Tuscany.

(a) In speech, there would be a natural pause after "died," so I think that

most American secondary teachers would strongly recommend a comma

in order to help guide readers (the purpose of punctuation?).

(b) A very (very) few teachers feel that "so" (when meaning "therefore") is

an adverb, and that it should not be used as a conjunction to connect two

independent sentences. Starting a new sentence with "so" would greatly please

those few strict teachers.

(i) Of course, many people would, indeed, write:

... needed a change of air, so she sold the house ....

[faryan]

REMINDER: NOT A TEACHER


(1) I think that it would be helpful if you wrote:

When her husband died, she decided that she needed a change of

air. So she sold the house in London and went to live in Tuscany.

(a) In speech, there would be a natural pause after "died," so I think that

most American secondary teachers would strongly recommend a comma

in order to help guide readers (the purpose of punctuation?).

(b) A very (very) few teachers feel that "so" (when meaning "therefore") is

an adverb, and that it should not be used as a conjunction to connect two

independent sentences. Starting a new sentence with "so" would greatly please

those few strict teachers.

(i) Of course, many people would, indeed, write:

... needed a change of air, so she sold the house ....

[faryan]

Thanks you two for the answers.
But you -two- mean that it's not a fixed rule in English written form, don't you?

[5jj]

Thanks you two for the answers.
But you -two- mean that it's not a fixed rule in English written form, don't you?

There are very few absolute rules of punctuation in English.

[faryan]

There are very few absolute rules of punctuation in English.

That's exactly what I need. Those very few rules!

[Bennevis]

That's exactly what I need. Those very few rules!

I kinda like these.

[Tdol]

That's exactly what I need. Those very few rules!

GV Carey suggested it was 2/3s rules and 1/3 personal preference: Poll: Punctuation is governed 2/3s by rule and 1/3 by personal taste. GV Carey - Language Polls - UsingEnglish.com