General Rules:
If
an adverbial clause comes at the beginning of a sentence,
it is followed by a comma.
Ex.:
When you talk with him, explain your responsibilities.
An
adverbial clause usually has no punctuation if it comes at the end of a
sentence.
Ex.:
Many plants grow fuller after they are pruned.
An
adverbial clause, if it is in the middle of a sentence, is usually
enclosed by commas.
Ex.:
He understood, because he had studied it several hours, the
significance of the report.
Comma Exercise:
Place
a comma where one is needed in the following sentences.
If none is needed, just enjoy the sentence!
Answers follow below.
1.
After the Philadelphia carpenters went on strike they formed their own
company and offered their services for twenty-five percent less than their
employers had charged.
2.
Many people objected when Thomas Paine, earlier a famous revolutionary
but now known as the author of a book on atheism, spent two weeks visiting
President Jefferson in the White House.
3.
John Elihu Hall started the first law journal although he was not an
attorney.
4.
As Tom Paine was being buried in New York only six people stood at his
grave to mourn him.
5.
If Philadelphians were nervous about dying and leaving no estate the
problem was solved when the first life-insurance company was created.
6.
When a New Orleans playboy and gambler introduced the French game Crapaud
to America its name was shortened to “craps.”
7.
As Americans read Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” they
encountered the term “bowling pins” in print for the first time.
8.
Rachel Konkapot, a twenty-six-year-old Indian woman, gave birth to a
daughter two hours after she had been shot through the thighbone.
9.
The child survived although Rachel died two months later.
10.
Before soap was sold in
individual wrappers it was sent in large blocks to grocers so pieces could be
cut off and sold.
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This page last updated on 2/06/03.