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Chompipe Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

comma necessity

How important is the comma before "too".

Grammar books usually state that "too" is an additional word and should be set off by a comma when used at the end of a sentence.
  • He likes to play tennis, too.
I find people leaving it off even in formal writings. It makes me wonder, is it acceptable to leave it off, or should "too" always be set off by a comma in this context?

Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

Most rules for commas are not hard and fast, with emphasis placed on clarity: is the comma necessary to convey the information clearly and accurately? Michael Swan ( Practical English Usage ) seldom uses a comma after a terminal too , nor do I if the sentence is short and sweet. It seems to me that here it depends somewhat on the man's other likes (as well as the context): He likes to play golf , and tennis too .

— Mister Micawber

  • Most rules for commas are not hard and fast, with emphasis placed on clarity: is the comma necessary to convey the information clearly and accurately?
  • Michael Swan ( Practical English Usage ) seldom uses a comma after a terminal too , nor do I if the sentence is short and sweet.
  • It seems to me that here it depends somewhat on the man's other likes (as well as the context): He likes to play golf , and tennis too .
  • ) He likes to play golf and tennis , too .
  • ) He likes to play golf and tennis too .
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4 Answers
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Most rules for commas are not hard and fast, with emphasis placed on clarity: is the comma necessary to convey the information clearly and accurately? Michael Swan (Practical English Usage) seldom uses a comma after a terminal too, nor do I if the sentence is short and sweet. It seems to me that here it depends somewhat on the man's other likes (as well as the context):

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to comma or not, in my book, is chiefly a matter of intonation. see [url=http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jlawler/aue/commas.html]John Lawler on comma use[/url]

sam,

'One man can't punctuate another man's manuscript any more than one
person can make the gestures for
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Thank you very much, Mister Micawber and Sam C, that really made sense. Next time when I see somethine like that, I'll try to look at the meaning of the sentence more in depth.
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Hi. I would appreciate it if you could tell me if the three, pauses, intonation, and (what you brought out) clarity, are equally important considerations for comma use. I think I have a fairly good grasp of what it means to have "clarity" as a consideration in comma use, but I don't seem to have a firm grasp as to the other two, pauses and intonation. Could you give me some simple examples if you
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