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Englishnewbie Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

and therefore (a comma)

Hello.

Is it WRONG to put a comma after THEREFORE here?

I want to go home, and therefore, I finished work early.

I think many do not use a comma here.
But is it grammatically WRONG? This is my question.

Thanks.
  

Top answer

Well, first: punctuation is not grammar, and there are fewer 'wrong' things about commas than other punctuation marks. All I can say is that I would not use your second comma at all: it seems wrongly conceived. What grammatical unit is it setting off for separate consideration?

— Mister Micawber

  • Well, first: punctuation is not grammar, and there are fewer 'wrong' things about commas than other punctuation marks.
  • All I can say is that I would not use your second comma at all: it seems wrongly conceived.
  • What grammatical unit is it setting off for separate consideration?
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6 Answers
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Well, first: punctuation is not grammar, and there are fewer 'wrong' things about commas than other punctuation marks. All I can say is that I would not use your second comma at all: it seems wrongly conceived. What grammatical unit is it setting off for separate consideration?
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Thanks for the reply.

What if it is

I read the book twice, and as a result, I gained a better understanding of waht happened during the war.

I think here we put a comma, right?

So I am thinking about "therefore" in a similar way.

AM i missing something?
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I wouldn't use a comma there, either. The clauses are separated before the coordinating conjunction, and it is general practice to avoid slowing the text with further commas at that point unless substantial material intervenes, something of about this range:

I read the book twice, and as a result of the time I put into this process, I gained a better understanding of what happe
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So are you saying that the LENGTH makes a difference?

So "therefore" is so short that puttting a comma slows the thought down, so you would not put a comma.

Is this basically your point?
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Length as a measure of grammatico-semantic simplicity, yes. The function of commas is to organize complex utterances, so if the utterance is short and direct, a comma is unnecessary.
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