Reply
Wed 28 Sep, 2016 06:55 pm
Although I may have forgotten the sentence under question, I can provide something with the same element I was interested over. On a sentence like "I like football because it is interesting", there are two independent clauses or sentences that can stand alone. The two independent clauses are "I like football" and "it is interesting", and although they are not the most complex, they can stand alone.
I asked my sophomore literature teacher whether I should put a comma before because or not, and she said no because it's a subborjinate clause (not sure exactly what she said; it sounded like jibberish :l) or something like that and cannot stand alone. Can anyone help me understand if there is a comma before the conjunction, because, in this particular sentence, and if not, why?
Simple compound sentence with a conjunction between the two independent clauses. No comma needed.
@PUNKEY,
Eh, that kind of sounded contradictory, and it still makes me confused. You say "a conjunction between two independent clauses" yet I was taught that there is a comma before the conjunction in a compound sentence...
@crynoking,
The comma isn't necessary, but it's not a big deal if you do put a comma. I think a comma is only necessary if taking it out changes the meaning or makes it unclear. There's really no way to misinterpret what you said. However, if you said something like "I don't crave mashed potatoes because I'm not hungry," you would need a comma to clarify the meaning. We don't know whether
I don't crave mashed potatoes, because I'm not hungry or
I don't crave mashed potatoes for another reason, such as my not liking them. Your teacher probably told you not to use a comma because (see how I didn't use a comma) people generally think it's best to omit unnecessary things when writing.
Selected Answer
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace