The party leader promised large tax relief

[Bassim]

I am wondering if my sentence sounds natural. Do I need a comma after "people"?

The party leader promised large tax relief for ordinary people but was unable to satisfactorily explain where the money is going to come from.

 

[jutfrank]

You often ask about commas, Bassim. Given what you know about the uses of commas, what do you think about this case?

 

[GoesStation]

"Large" doesn't work for me as an adjective for "tax relief". How about "significant"?

The second part is in the wrong tense.

 

[Bassim]

jutfrank,
If I had an ordinary English education, I would have probably learnt the proper use of a comma and other rules already in a primary school, but unfortunately, I have to learn all that rules by myself. I have to admit that sometimes I am not sure if I used correctly a comma or not, especially when I can see that nowadays some writers apply the rule of a comma more freely than before.
In this case, I think that I do not need a comma after "people".

 

[jutfrank]

Bassim, I'm just trying to help you think about whether or not your sentences need commas. This can be a tricky thing to do as sometimes there is a need to use them, for grammatical reasons, and sometimes they just help to break up sentences, in order to improve legibility or control the rhythm of speech.

In this case, coming before a coordinating conjunction (but), I agree that the comma is not necessary.

 

[Tdol]

Tax cuts?

 

[Bassim]

Tdol,

I am not good at finance, and I am wondering if tax cuts and tax relief mean the same.

 

[Tdol]

I think that you cut taxes like income tax directly and give tax relief by allowing more deductions, for instance by making something taxable at a lower rater inside the general taxation. If you cut sales tax, everything is charged at a lower rate. If you reduce sales tax on some goods, you are providing tax relief. (Not an accountant)