Comma rules - with "that"

Question

When do you place a comma before AND when "THAT" is used?

For example,

Our office will relocate and that may force some employees to retire

or

Our office will relocate, and that may force some employees to retire

Mortgage rates have been low and that is good news for home owners

or

Mortgage rates have been low, and that is good news for home owners

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Hello, Nicolas—and welcome to English Forums.

These are correct and the comma is unrelated to 'that'. The comma is placed before the coordinating conjunction (here, 'and') in compound sentences.

Our office will relocate, and that may force some employees to retire

Mortgage rates have been low, and that is good news for home owners

JoshStafford · Answer

There are a number of rules covering comma usage: most often quoted is 1) in a list; 2) before dialogue; and 3) to mark out additional information. Or something like that. However, comma usage - and all punctuation - is crucial: it can and often does change the meaning of a sentence. Consider:

A woman without her man is useless

No punctuation. So what did I mean?

1) A woman, without her man, is useless.

Or

2) A woman: without her, man is useless.

(I meant the second one.)

Consider also the missing punctuation in a telegram that led to the abortive Jameson Raid on the Transvaal Boer Republic, and eventually the "Second Boer War" or the "South African War". The telegram in question was "It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here the circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated."

It is ambiguous.

Place punctuation after 'aid' and there is a feeling of dire urgency:

"It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid. Should a disturbance arise here the circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated."

Or place it after 'here' and it's as Truss says, a case of 'Don't call us; we'll call you.'

"It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here. The circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated."

Both examples are taken from Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. If it's not in your local library ask if it can be brought in. It's also available on Amazon. There's a whole chapter in it (and more?) devoted to commas--and better still, it's easy to read, even hilarious at times.

Comma rules - with "that"

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