Commas before and/or after "because
Which is proper grammar:
He argues that there is no binding contract, because, at any given time...
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time...
Thanks so much!
grammar commas
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 days ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
add a comment |
Which is proper grammar:
He argues that there is no binding contract, because, at any given time...
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time...
Thanks so much!
grammar commas
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 days ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51
add a comment |
Which is proper grammar:
He argues that there is no binding contract, because, at any given time...
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time...
Thanks so much!
grammar commas
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
Which is proper grammar:
He argues that there is no binding contract, because, at any given time...
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time...
Thanks so much!
grammar commas
grammar commas
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
asked Feb 21 at 10:46
Hayley KHayley K
61
61
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 days ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 days ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
1
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51
add a comment |
1
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51
1
1
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
Remember the purpose of a comma is a slight pause in your rhythm, a break between related but different parts of a sentence. Because of this, we would need an entire sample sentence for context.
Let's say "He argues that there is no binding contract because at any given time either side has a legal right to exit"; obviously without punctuation at all it's a run-on sentence.
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
Here, you're breaking the sentence into three parts with the comma. Putting a comma in front of because makes the initial part a statement of his argument, but without reason. The rest of the sentence provides the reason (in two parts).
He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
By moving the comma over one word, the initial sentence fragment defines that this is about the reason rather than the reason just being an addition to his argument.
So there isn't a hard and fast rule based solely on the words, but the context and intent help define comma placement. Also, it's fairly uncommon that a single word will be surrounded by commas. This is typically the case only when it's a break-out word, often a descriptor, that the sentence doesn't require to make sense but the inclusion of which clarifies or further describes things. For instance:
Of all his shirts, the one in his favorite color, green, is the one he washes by hand so as to keep its color vibrant.
Green is a break-out, it further describes the previous fragment (his favorite color), but could be removed without causing the sentence to become nonsense. Often, these are words that could also be presented parenthetically, but due to style choice or format requirements are surrounded by commas instead. This works for one or two words, but longer parentheticals should not be surrounded by commas instead.
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
add a comment |
There's no need to insert a comma in the sentence. As the sentence stands a comma seems superfluous. You may need a comma after 'time' -- depending on the context. The following clause may or may not need a comma. As I said it depends on the context and unless you provide the third clause, saying you need a comma would be presumptuous because you don't.
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "97"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f486540%2fcommas-before-and-or-after-because%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
Remember the purpose of a comma is a slight pause in your rhythm, a break between related but different parts of a sentence. Because of this, we would need an entire sample sentence for context.
Let's say "He argues that there is no binding contract because at any given time either side has a legal right to exit"; obviously without punctuation at all it's a run-on sentence.
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
Here, you're breaking the sentence into three parts with the comma. Putting a comma in front of because makes the initial part a statement of his argument, but without reason. The rest of the sentence provides the reason (in two parts).
He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
By moving the comma over one word, the initial sentence fragment defines that this is about the reason rather than the reason just being an addition to his argument.
So there isn't a hard and fast rule based solely on the words, but the context and intent help define comma placement. Also, it's fairly uncommon that a single word will be surrounded by commas. This is typically the case only when it's a break-out word, often a descriptor, that the sentence doesn't require to make sense but the inclusion of which clarifies or further describes things. For instance:
Of all his shirts, the one in his favorite color, green, is the one he washes by hand so as to keep its color vibrant.
Green is a break-out, it further describes the previous fragment (his favorite color), but could be removed without causing the sentence to become nonsense. Often, these are words that could also be presented parenthetically, but due to style choice or format requirements are surrounded by commas instead. This works for one or two words, but longer parentheticals should not be surrounded by commas instead.
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
add a comment |
Remember the purpose of a comma is a slight pause in your rhythm, a break between related but different parts of a sentence. Because of this, we would need an entire sample sentence for context.
Let's say "He argues that there is no binding contract because at any given time either side has a legal right to exit"; obviously without punctuation at all it's a run-on sentence.
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
Here, you're breaking the sentence into three parts with the comma. Putting a comma in front of because makes the initial part a statement of his argument, but without reason. The rest of the sentence provides the reason (in two parts).
He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
By moving the comma over one word, the initial sentence fragment defines that this is about the reason rather than the reason just being an addition to his argument.
So there isn't a hard and fast rule based solely on the words, but the context and intent help define comma placement. Also, it's fairly uncommon that a single word will be surrounded by commas. This is typically the case only when it's a break-out word, often a descriptor, that the sentence doesn't require to make sense but the inclusion of which clarifies or further describes things. For instance:
Of all his shirts, the one in his favorite color, green, is the one he washes by hand so as to keep its color vibrant.
Green is a break-out, it further describes the previous fragment (his favorite color), but could be removed without causing the sentence to become nonsense. Often, these are words that could also be presented parenthetically, but due to style choice or format requirements are surrounded by commas instead. This works for one or two words, but longer parentheticals should not be surrounded by commas instead.
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
add a comment |
Remember the purpose of a comma is a slight pause in your rhythm, a break between related but different parts of a sentence. Because of this, we would need an entire sample sentence for context.
Let's say "He argues that there is no binding contract because at any given time either side has a legal right to exit"; obviously without punctuation at all it's a run-on sentence.
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
Here, you're breaking the sentence into three parts with the comma. Putting a comma in front of because makes the initial part a statement of his argument, but without reason. The rest of the sentence provides the reason (in two parts).
He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
By moving the comma over one word, the initial sentence fragment defines that this is about the reason rather than the reason just being an addition to his argument.
So there isn't a hard and fast rule based solely on the words, but the context and intent help define comma placement. Also, it's fairly uncommon that a single word will be surrounded by commas. This is typically the case only when it's a break-out word, often a descriptor, that the sentence doesn't require to make sense but the inclusion of which clarifies or further describes things. For instance:
Of all his shirts, the one in his favorite color, green, is the one he washes by hand so as to keep its color vibrant.
Green is a break-out, it further describes the previous fragment (his favorite color), but could be removed without causing the sentence to become nonsense. Often, these are words that could also be presented parenthetically, but due to style choice or format requirements are surrounded by commas instead. This works for one or two words, but longer parentheticals should not be surrounded by commas instead.
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
Remember the purpose of a comma is a slight pause in your rhythm, a break between related but different parts of a sentence. Because of this, we would need an entire sample sentence for context.
Let's say "He argues that there is no binding contract because at any given time either side has a legal right to exit"; obviously without punctuation at all it's a run-on sentence.
He argues that there is no binding contract, because at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
Here, you're breaking the sentence into three parts with the comma. Putting a comma in front of because makes the initial part a statement of his argument, but without reason. The rest of the sentence provides the reason (in two parts).
He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, either side has a legal right to exit.
By moving the comma over one word, the initial sentence fragment defines that this is about the reason rather than the reason just being an addition to his argument.
So there isn't a hard and fast rule based solely on the words, but the context and intent help define comma placement. Also, it's fairly uncommon that a single word will be surrounded by commas. This is typically the case only when it's a break-out word, often a descriptor, that the sentence doesn't require to make sense but the inclusion of which clarifies or further describes things. For instance:
Of all his shirts, the one in his favorite color, green, is the one he washes by hand so as to keep its color vibrant.
Green is a break-out, it further describes the previous fragment (his favorite color), but could be removed without causing the sentence to become nonsense. Often, these are words that could also be presented parenthetically, but due to style choice or format requirements are surrounded by commas instead. This works for one or two words, but longer parentheticals should not be surrounded by commas instead.
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
answered Feb 21 at 15:22
Jesse WilliamsJesse Williams
1,214614
1,214614
add a comment |
add a comment |
There's no need to insert a comma in the sentence. As the sentence stands a comma seems superfluous. You may need a comma after 'time' -- depending on the context. The following clause may or may not need a comma. As I said it depends on the context and unless you provide the third clause, saying you need a comma would be presumptuous because you don't.
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
add a comment |
There's no need to insert a comma in the sentence. As the sentence stands a comma seems superfluous. You may need a comma after 'time' -- depending on the context. The following clause may or may not need a comma. As I said it depends on the context and unless you provide the third clause, saying you need a comma would be presumptuous because you don't.
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
add a comment |
There's no need to insert a comma in the sentence. As the sentence stands a comma seems superfluous. You may need a comma after 'time' -- depending on the context. The following clause may or may not need a comma. As I said it depends on the context and unless you provide the third clause, saying you need a comma would be presumptuous because you don't.
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
There's no need to insert a comma in the sentence. As the sentence stands a comma seems superfluous. You may need a comma after 'time' -- depending on the context. The following clause may or may not need a comma. As I said it depends on the context and unless you provide the third clause, saying you need a comma would be presumptuous because you don't.
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
answered Feb 21 at 16:00
user337286user337286
1
1
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to English Language & Usage Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fenglish.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f486540%2fcommas-before-and-or-after-because%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
1
Or, "He argues that there is no binding contract because, at any given time, ..." I hope someone can answer this question, but also with regard to the comma before "because," which I use only to disambiguate a statement like: "He is not here because he is wealthy" (Is he absent because he is wealthy, or is he here for a reason other than that he is wealthy?)
– remarkl
Feb 21 at 12:51