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Moominpapa Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

About use of comma

At first, I'm going to write the sentence about which I want to ask.

That is in a novel that is called Chemical Secret, and it's the scene when a man and a woman fell into the river, and she lost her consciousness. Then the man is trying to get her get a breath back. Once he thought he saw her breathe, but he couldn't be sure. So, he strongly blew into her mouth again.

"And this time, he was sure, she took a breath by herself, afterwards."

The questions is:
Why is there the comma before "afterwards"?

I think that the "afterwards" means "after he blew into her mouth again", but I'm not sure of the reason why the author put the comma before "afterwards."
Doesn't the grammar require a comma there, does it?
So, what is the author's intention?

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

The author presumably just wanted to make a more visible separation between "by herself" and "afterwards", both of which modify "she took a breath". The comma is not mandatory.

— GPY

  • The author presumably just wanted to make a more visible separation between "by herself" and "afterwards", both of which modify "she took a breath".
  • The comma is not mandatory.
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8 Answers
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The author presumably just wanted to make a more visible separation between "by herself" and "afterwards", both of which modify "she took a breath". The comma is not mandatory.
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Thank you for your reply!

So, which is to say, if there were not the comma, it might be misunderstood as another meaning or having another nuance?
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moominpapaSo, which is to say, if there were not the comma, it might be misunderstood as another meaning or having another nuance?
No, I don't really think so.
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Oh, or the visible separation you said is to emphasize each two phrases: "by herself" and "afterwards"?
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moominpapaOh, or the visible separation you said is to emphasize each two phrases: "by herself" and "afterwards"?
Possibly it has a mild effect of that sort, but it is not a big deal.
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Emily Hill no you cant do that
I think you mean "No, you can't do that."

But what is it you think one cannot do?
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Possibly it has a mild effect of that sort, but it is not a big deal.
Ok, I got it! Thank you so much!
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