I know that so uses a comma when it is used as a conjunction as in, "I didn't know what to do, so I gave it to him." But what if it is used to mean "so that." For instance: "I gave it to him so he would stop pestering me." Does that so take a comma?
:!::!::!:
NOT A TEACHER :!::!::!:
I was taught that it's helpful to use a comma
if so that introduces
a clause of
result.
(1) He ran
so that he might catch the train. No comma should
be used because
so that introduces a clause of
purpose (gives the
reason for his running).
(2) He ran
, so that he caught the train.
So that introduces a clause of
result. That is, it tells what happened as a result of his running. The
comma is necessary because it indicates the pause that is necessary in
speech.
THANK YOU & HAVE A NICE DAY.
Notes: (1) Your native language is English,
so you already know that
many of us native speakers drop the "that" in sentences such as
No. l and No. 2.
(2) I wish to credit those two example sentences to
A Grammar of
Present-Day English by Professors Pence and Emery.
