Can I ask what's bothering you?

Question

HiDo I need a comma after ask if there is a slight pause after ask in the conversation?Can I ask, what's bothering you?Can I ask, what's wrong with you?Thanks,Tom

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

No. The content clause is the complement of the verb. We do not put a comma between the subject and verb or the verb and its complement. You can make it a direct quote and use commas and quotation marks.

May I ask you something? "What's bothering you?"

Anonymous · Answer

Mr. TomDo I need a comma after ask if there is a slight pause after ask in the conversation?

In written English, a comma does not represent a pause. That bears repeating. In written English, a comma does not represent a pause. A comma is there to aid reading. There are rules that will supply you with all the information you need to use commas, and you should not use any commas but those prescribed and all the commas that are prescribed. Some commas are optional, but that only cuts one way; you can omit the optional ones, not gratuitously insert them when you feel like it. Any stylebook has at least most of the rules, and the Chicago Manual of Style has all of them. The rules are not arbitrary or entirely logical but are based on convention as revealed in the corpus.

Of course, if you are writing dialogue or poetry, you can do what you like, but if you want a pause there are often better ways to get one than with the poor little comma. The em dash comes to mind, and the ellipsis. In dialogue, you can interrupt with the tag.

Can I ask what's bothering you?

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