a comma for so a must

0I think whether you need place a comma or not depends not on the conjunction 01b00so02b00, but on the position of a main and an adverbial clause. If a main clause is the first, then you needn't place a comma.01blockquote

02br
12br
11font11b10I took a bus 12b10(why?)10 because I was late.1

0Thank you. I have this rather long sentence and want to ask you whether or not you would place a comma before "so" for the writer did not. I am wondering why he 01u00did not02u00 place a comma there.02br
02br
00Is the choice to put a comma before "so" is 01u00an arbitrary one02u00 that a writer can decide for him or herself?02

0Hi,02br
02br
01font00I was late, so 02font01font01b00I took a bus.02b00 02font00Here, 'so' expresses a consequence. It is often, although I wouldn't say always, preceded by a comma.02br
02br
01font00If a particular exercise is lit

0Sometimes the choice whether to place a comma or not is really made by an author himself. But in your example, Anon, 01i01font00so they can correct their own previously prepared works in their textbooks02font02i00 seems a subordinate clause to me (as Clive has already mentioned, though), which goes after the main 01i01font

Hi Clive.

It was a great help for me to read you explanation on the use of "comma" with so. I have some material on it. Actually, I teach English and the use of comma is one of the problems I face teaching my students. That's why I'm always searching about it. To tell you the truth, I'm a Brazilian teacher of English and Spanish, punctuation is not the "cup of tea" (Does that exp

Hello.

(1) I think that most Americans now treat "so" as a conjunction. Therefore, they would probably write it as you did:

I was late, so I took a bus.

(2) There are a very few very strict teachers who insist that "so" is always an adverb. They would insist that your sentence has to be written as:

(a) I was late. So I took a bus.

(b) I was late