Using a comma

[kkookk2003]

Is it true that one should not have the words 'and' and 'because' after a comma in a sentence?


Ben

[mykwyner]

No, it is not true. If the structure of the sentence requires a comma, because that is what the rule is, and you understand those rules, then you will use commas when necessary, and you will omit them when they are not.

[rewboss]

Compare these two sentences:

Timothy baked a cake, and Susan made the salad.
Timothy baked a cake and made the salad.

The first sentence is actually two complete sentences joined together; the second sentence has one subject but two different verbs. It's not a strict rule, but I personally prefer a comma in the first sentence and no comma in the second.

As for "because", generally no comma comes before it:

He went for a walk because there was nothing worth watching on television.

However, if you reverse the order of the clauses, putting the subordinate clause first (i.e., you begin the sentence with "because"), then you should use a comma to separate the clauses:

Because there was nothing worth watching on television, he went for a walk.

mykwyner's sentence actually demonstrates another use of the comma (although mykwyner probably didn't intend this): commas can surround parenthetical phrases. You could rewrite the sentence like this:

If the structure of the sentence requires a comma (because that is what the rule is), and you understand...

The problem with the comma is that it is used for so many things. You can't say that the comma should never come before "because" because sometimes some other usage of the comma will require on at exactly that point.

[kkookk2003]

I'm not very sure about this, but I heard somewhere that one shouldn't start sentences with the word 'because'. Is that true?

Regards

Ben

[BobK]

Originally Posted by kkookk2003

I'm not very sure about this, but I heard somewhere that one shouldn't start sentences with the word 'because'. Is that true?
Regards
Ben

No, it's not.

I suspect this 'rule' became popular because teachers wanted students to use sentences:

Why did you not hand in your homework?
Because the dog ate my books. This isn't a sentence.

But this is:

Because it's your first day, I'm going to help you.

This Because is OK.

b

[kkookk2003]

Thanks Bob

Ben