[Grammar] Punctuation before preposition..

[rambharosey]

Was wondering if there can ever be a punctuation before a preposition.

For example: He came, to the stadium

In the above sentence, clearly a comma (punctuation) before a preposition ("to") is incorrect.

Is this the case everytime or is there a case when punctuation before a preposition is considered ok.

 

[Raymott]

Was wondering if there can ever be a punctuation before a preposition.

For example: He came, to the stadium

In the above sentence, clearly a comma (punctuation) before a preposition ("to") is incorrect.

Is this the case everytime or is there a case when punctuation before a preposition is considered ok.

Yes, there can be. "He came to the station, to our meeting, and to his senses."

 

[Rover_KE]

In addition to Raymott's example, parenthetical phrases often begin with prepositions:

'The law is considered (in most people's minds) to be an ass.'

'It remains, between you and me, a complete fiasco.'

'I swear I will never - despite threats of imprisonment - reveal your whereabouts.'

Rover

 

[Tdol]

This, for example, is a case in point.

 

[BobSmith]

This could, from my POV, quickly get out of hand.

 

[Barb_D]

She closed the thread, to the relief of everyone.
(Not that I actually did...)

 

[Rover_KE]

She closed the thread, to the relief of everyone.
(Not that I actually did...)

It would be a good thing, in my opinion, if you did.

Rover

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, rambharosey:


(1) You have asked an excellent question.

(2) As you can see, our wonderful teachers are having a lot of fun in answering it.

(3) But to be very serious: I believe that you are basically correct: a comma does NOT, in fact, go in front of a preposition.

(a) One poster gave an example of a series, such as:

I go to school, to church, and to work.

(i) But IMHO that is really just a short way of saying: I go to school, [and I go] to church, [and I go] to work.

(b) The other posters all had parenthetical expressions. That is, some words that are just "thrown" into a sentence. They are

not necessary to the basic meaning of the sentence: "The Parser, of course, is stupid" or "The Parser is stupid, of course." Since all

parenthetical expressions are set off (separated) by comma(s), that is the reason why there is a comma in front of the preposition


"of." (NOTE: Of course, The Parser is stupid.)


HAVE A NICE DAY!

 

[5jj]

But to be very serious: I believe that you are basically correct: a comma does NOT, in fact, go in front of a preposition.

Basically, TheParser is right. We would not expect to use a comma after a main proposition and before a prepositional phrase associated with it. The fun people have been having is, I think, partly a reaction to glib , over-simplified 'rules'. The original question used the words 'ever' and 'every time', and people reponded to those.

It's one reason why I never use the words 'never' and 'always' in my posts, something I have always kept to.

;-)

ps, I was referring to self-appointed rule-makers, not to rambharosey, when I used the words 'glib' and 'over-simplified'.

 

[Tdol]

A few weeks ago, I re-read Oliver Twist and noticed some odd commas and think that Dickens used some commas before prepositions that looked very strange to me- I will try to find an example.

 

[emsr2d2]

A few weeks ago, I re-read Oliver Twist and noticed some odd commas and think that Dickens used some commas before prepositions that looked very strange to me- I will try to find an example.

Preceding prepositions aside, this is the opening sentence (!) of A Tale of Two Cities.

It was the best of times, it was the
worst of times, it was the age of wisdom,
it was the age of foolishness, it was the
epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it
was the season of Darkness, it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we
had nothing before us, we were all going
direct to Heaven, we were all going direct
the other way--in short, the period was
so far like the present period, that some
of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the
superlative degree of comparison only.

Yes, that is all one sentence!