Do I need a comma between 'but' and 'nowadays'?

[99bottles]

'I used to play video-games, but, nowadays, I'm too busy.'

I feel I need a comma between 'but' and 'nowadays', since 'but' is linked to the clause that comes after 'nowadays'. Am I wrong?

 

[Yankee]

I'm not a fan of commas, :roll: but I would use only the one after "video-games".

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, you're wrong. The word nowadays is part of the clause that comes after but so it isn't interfering in any way, if that's what you mean.

 

[99bottles]

Yes, you're wrong. The word nowadays is part of the clause that comes after but so it isn't interfering in any way, if that's what you mean.

But, if it was a separate sentence, wouldn't there be a comma after nowadays?

Nowadays, I'm too busy.

 

[Phaedrus]

On the Corpus of Contemporary American English, there are the following results:

, but, nowadays, : 1
, but nowadays, : 18
, but nowadays : 93

Of the 1469 cases on COCA where "nowadays" begins a sentence, 868 have a comma right after it. That's about half the results. You can take your pick, statistically speaking.

 

[TheParser]

'I used to play video-games, but, nowadays, I'm too busy.'

NOT A TEACHER

99bottles, I have been thinking a lot about your sentence, and I suggest that you use no commas: "I used to play video games, but nowadays I'm too busy."

First, that sentence reads smoothly.

Second, when you enclose a word with two commas, each comma not only indicates a pause in speaking but also indicates that the enclosed word is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.

Third, if one does delete "nowadays," then one gets "I used to play video games, but I'm too busy." As you can see, such a sentence does not feel complete. (As Phaedrus has just shown us, most native speakers would not use commas.)

 

[99bottles]

So, if it was a separate sentence (Nowadays I'm too busy), it still wouldn't need a comma after 'nowadays'?

 

[TheParser]

So, if it was a separate sentence (Nowadays I'm too busy), it still wouldn't need a comma after 'nowadays'?

NOT A TEACHER

99bottles, I cannot answer your question. I can only share a few thoughts.

1. If you ever read something that was written in English 100 or 200 years ago, you will notice all the punctuation marks.

2. In 2021, at least here in the (United) States, there is a trend toward lean punctuation. That is to say, using those marks (such as commas) only when necessary.


3. The advice usually given to learners of English is to use commas after introductory words just to be safe. In other words, few people would say that you are "wrong" to write "Nowadays, I'm too busy." But probably a lot of Americans see no reason to use a comma in such a sentence. (Personally, I feel more comfortable using a comma after "nowadays" -- and "personally." When I was younger, that is just how people punctuated their writing.)

4. Many teachers advise learners to read, read, read. You will eventually get an idea of how most native speakers punctuate their sentences -- nowadays!

 

[jutfrank]

But, if it was a separate sentence, wouldn't there be a comma after nowadays?

Nowadays, I'm too busy.

I usually teach students to put a comma there, yes, though many native-speaking writers wouldn't.

However, the question in the OP was about the comma before nowadays, not the one after. I have a feeling that you may have developed a bad habit of placing unnecessary commas directly after but. You've even done it in the sentence quoted at the top of this post.

 

[Tarheel]

I used to play videogames, but nowadays I'm too busy.

Two things. One, do it exactly that way. Two, don't trust that feeling.

 

[Rover_KE]

But, if it was a separate sentence, wouldn't there be a comma after nowadays?
.

So, if it was a separate sentence, it still wouldn't need a comma after 'nowadays'?

The commas after 'But' and 'So' are both unnecessary.

 

[emsr2d2]

The commas after 'But' and 'So' are both unnecessary.

Also, we recommend that learners avoid starting sentences with "But" and "So". The former can be used but is usually better replaced with "However, ...". Opening sentences with "So" is a really annoying habit that even native speakers seem to have picked up in the last couple of years.

 

[Phaedrus]

Also, we recommend that learners avoid starting sentences with "But" and "So". The former can be used but is usually better replaced with "However, ...".

I have never understood the belief that it is bad, or less than perfect English, to begin a sentence with "But." In my experience, this occurs in writing and speech at all levels of formality, including the highest. For example, Thomas Jefferson began a sentence with "But" in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence (one of the most celebrated documents in U.S. history), and Abraham Lincoln began the third paragraph of The Gettysburg Address with "But." It is very common for sentences to begin with "But" in academic writing today, as well. I once looked through Noam Chomsky's Syntactic Structures (1957) for sentences beginning with "But," Noam Chomsky being perhaps the finest example of an academic "god" in today's world. Not only did I find sentences beginning with "But" in that book, but I seem to recall finding three such sentences on a single page!

 

[emsr2d2]

I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. I said we don't tend to encourage learners to try it because it's so easy to get wrong. Plenty of native speakers don't use it properly.