Despite suffering an injury early in the match

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence is grammatically correct.

Despite suffering an injury early in the match, Marta gritted her teeth and played until the end.

 

[GoesStation]

It's OK. Try rewriting it so it doesn't need a comma.

 

[Bassim]

Would this sentence be OK:

Marta gritted her teeth and played until the end despite suffering an injury early in the match.

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, that's good. As an exercise, try reviewing the next ten phrases you write. See how many commas you can remove by rewriting. Collect the commas in a matchbox so you can donate them to charity at the end of the year.

 

[bubbha]

I don't think commas are bad things, as long as they are used properly.

 

[emsr2d2]

Much as I love the charity comma idea, I preferred Bassim's version in post #1 to the one in post #3. I prefer the word order. There's nothing wrong with the version with no comma, of course; I just think the first is more interesting. It grabs the reader's attention at the beginning by giving the "bad news", making them wonder what the person was able to do after sustaining an injury.

 

[GoesStation]

I don't think commas are bad things, as long as they are used properly.

As a general rule, I think that text with fewer commas reads better. The presence of a lot of commas is a sign that phrases may not be in the best possible order.

 

[teechar]

Consider using "played on" in that sentence.