A comma
"Britain’s leader during the period when the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers put every major bank at risk, said that after a decade of stagnation the global economy was now moving into a decade of vulnerability."
(The Guardian.)
Is the comma used in the sentence above necessary?
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I see Britain’s leader during the period when the collapse of the US investment bank put every major bank at risk as a subject and noun phrase modified by the relative when-clause. It seems to me that separation of the subject from the predicate by the comma is unnecessary (if not redundant) in that sentence.
Top answer
Strictly speaking the comma is incorrect because, as you say, it interposes between subject and verb. No doubt it has been inserted because the writer felt it aided readability.
- Strictly speaking the comma is incorrect because, as you say, it interposes between subject and verb.
- No doubt it has been inserted because the writer felt it aided readability.
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Strictly speaking the comma is incorrect because, as you say, it interposes between subject and verb. No doubt it has been inserted because the writer felt it aided readability.
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