Comma before 'which'.

Question

Hi,In the below sentence do you think it is ok to have a comma before 'which'?Without consulting Sarah, I took a small detour and drove to the McDonalds drive-thru, which was close to our flat.

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

ryansamturner Hi,In the below sentence do you think it is ok to have a comma before 'which'?Without consulting Sarah, I took a small detour and drove to the McDonalds drive-thru, which was close to our flat.

I took a small detour and drove to the McDonald's drive-thru, which was close to our flat.

No comma needed, as there are several drive-throughs.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Yoong LiatI took a small detour and drove to the McDonald's drive-thru, which was close to our flat.No comma needed, as there are several drive-throughs.

If there was only one in ryansamturner's town, then the comma is appropriate.

Ryansamturner · Answer

Thanks.
How about in this one.
'I stood clinging to one of the metal poles, which helped me balance.'

Would you say I would need to remove that comma as well?

Thanks.

Yoong Liat · Answer

Yes.

RandomGuy · Answer

ryansamturner'I stood clinging to one of the metal poles, which helped me balance.'

I would use the comma.

Fivejedjon · Answer

I would use it too.

Two slightly different interpretation are possible.:

1. I clung to the the pole. The pole helped me balance.
2. I clung to the pole. Clinging to the pole helped me balance.

I think that #2 is more likely, but it doesn't really matter.

Without the comma, the meaning would be:

There were several poles that did not help me balance. I clung to the pole that did help me balance.

This is rather unlikely, I feel.

Yoong Liat · Answer

Thanks, Fivejedjon.

My interpretation is: There were several poles that could help me balance. I clung to one of them.

To me, it is similar to the several drive-throughs in the original post.

Comma before 'which'.

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