Comma Rule

Question

1. Do I need a comma for the following sentence?

Studying the materials in advance really helped raising your grades, and it also helps you focus in class more.

2. Is the second clause trualy considered as an independent clause?

3. I have already looked at the definitions and examples of indepandent clauses and dependant clauses.

As long as the sentence can grammatically stand on its own, it is an indepandent clause, right?

Thanks in advance.

Crusoe28 · Accepted Answer

The comma in that sentence is not necessary. Even thought the second clause could technically stand as a sentence alone, 'it' is not defined. Therefore, it would best be left as is, sans the comma.

I hope this adequately answers your question.

Ferdis · Answer

vcolts1. Do I need a comma for the following sentence?

Studying the materials in advance really helped raising your grades, and it also helps you focus in class more.

Yes.
vcolts2. Is the second clause trualy considered as an independent clause?

Yes.
vcolts3. I have already looked at the definitions and examples of indepandent clauses and dependant clauses.

As long as the sentence can grammatically stand on its own, it is an indepandent clause, right?

Yes, basically. As long as the clause can, not the sentence; a sentence always stands on its own. This usually means that it has at least a subject, verb and possibly object.

An example where a re comma should not be used is:

Studying the materials in advance really helped raising your grades and also helps you focus in class more.

Note the omitted subject 'it'. Now it's one parallel sentence with two verbs (helped/helps) combined by 'and' and one subject (studying ...).

Dokterjokkebrok · Answer

vcolts1. Do I need a comma for the following sentence?

Studying the material in advance really helped raise your grades, and it also helps you focus in class more.

Hi

In this case, I agree with Ferdis. Most writers would put a comma before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.

On the other hand, however, I was taught that it's better to leave it out if the coordinated structure is rather short.

e.g. I got it and you didn't. --> I wouldn't usually put a comma before AND here.

I think that we must bear in mind that commas denote brief pauses in your speech, allowing you to take a quick breath. But, I must confess that I, too, sometimes leave out commas. In the end, it's a matter of opinion and style. Leaving out a few commas isn't the worst thing you can do wrong, but using them wisely can certainly help you make your sentences run more smoothly.

Kind regards

Dokterjokkebrok

MrPedantic · Answer

I would agree that it is better to include the comma, unless you want to create a "breathless" effect:

1. Studying the materials in advance really helped raising your grades and it also helps you focus in class more.

A semi-colon might be the natural solution, however; especially as the tense in each clause is different:

2. Studying the materials in advance really helped raising your grades; it also helps you focus in class more.

I find "helped raising your grades" awkward; maybe:

3. ...helped to raise...

4. ...helped with raising...

Best wishes,

MrP

Vcolts · Answer

crusoe28The comma in that sentence is not necessary. Even thought the second clause could technically stand as a sentence alone, 'it' is not defined. Therefore, it would best be left as is, sans the comma.

I hope this adequately answers your question.

That is what I initially thought, and my high school teachers recommanded using commas as little as possible.

However, the definitions and examples I ran into all indicate the simple grammatical rule. I used to not put a comma there before. I now wonder if I should. According to what I found on the internet, I probably should.

Let me know if you can find some source on that.

Ferdis · Answer

You can sometimes leave out commas connecting very short elements (like dokerjokkebrok said). My advice is to first learn where and where not to place commas correctly and only then to start omitting some. The sentence you posted is far from short and quite clearly requires a comma (imho).

Places where commas are sometimes omitted: very short introductory elements (In the morning[,] we all went home.), transitional adverbs (We can[,] therefore[,] conclude that ...), conjunctions joining very short clauses (It's snowing[,] and it's cold.)

A comma is also almost always omitted after a conjunction followed by some introductory phrase or the like: We could go there, but[don't put a comma here] depending on the weather, we could also go elsewhere.

Comma Rule

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