[Grammar] Why is there a comma here?

[din01]

"You know, I got a call from the head-office"
"For myself, I have always chosen meaning"

Why is there a comma after 'You know' and 'For myself'?

Is it because it's emphasising points of view, or is it something else? Like introductory words.

Two examples of emphasising points of view:
"Of course, she fully deserves it."
"Naturally, I'll look after your new car."

 

[5jj]

I'll just respond to one part of your question:

"You know, I got a call from the head-office"

Omission of the comma here would change the meaning to:

You know (that) I got a call...

 

[din01]

How about this one?

On every block, enormous steel-beam skeleton appeared where empty lots had been the day before.

"On every block", is that a introductory phrase?

 

[din01]

anyone?

 

[paul.moss]

It's because these phrases aren't part of the sentence. They are called sentence adverbs or 'disjuncts';they give an opinion on the idea or fill the gaps in conversations. In other words, if you leave them out, the truth value of the statement will remain intact and only the speaker's opinion will be missing.

 

[5jj]

How about this one?

On every block, enormous steel-beam skeletons appeared where empty lots had been the day before.

"On every block", is that an introductory phrase?

Certainly not in the same way as the previous expressions. As paul.moss noted, they are not part of the sentence. On every block is part of the sentence.It tells us where the steel-beamed skeletons appeared. I would write that sentence without a comma(,) but I tend to minimalism in the use of commas.

 

[danielah]

"You know, I got a call from the head-office"
"For myself, I have always chosen meaning"

Why is there a comma after 'You know' and 'For myself'?

Is it because it's emphasising points of view, or is it something else? Like introductory words.

Two examples of emphasising points of view:
"Of course, she fully deserves it."
"Naturally, I'll look after your new car."

There is a comma because if there wasn't, the sentence would take on a whole different meaning. "For myself I have never chosen meaning", means the same as "I have never chosen meaning for myself" (in other words, the speaker has never chosen meaning for who he/she is). With the comma before "For myself," the speaker is making it clear that he/she is speaking about his/her own personal experience. There is a comma when a speaker gives very brief background information for the second part of the sentence.

 

[din01]

Why is there a comma here?

The coroner walked briskly to the body and placed a thumb to those wrists, where a pulse would have been.

After 'wrists'.

Is there a need for a comma there?

 

[din01]

anyone

 

[Slot]

Why is there a comma here?

The coroner walked briskly to the body and placed a thumb to those wrists, where a pulse would have been.

After 'wrists'.

Is there a need for a comma there?

I am not a teacher.

Without the pause signified by the comma, the sentence would suggest that the corpse posseses wrists that have a pulse, as well as those that don't.

Some might say it does, anyway. But with a comma the sentence is not as unintentionally comical as it would be without it.