Commas and dates

Question

My assistant believes that one should always place a comma after a date in a sentance. I was always tought to place a comma after a date when the date is used as part of a prepositional phrase. However, I can't say that I was the best student. For instance, would one put a comma after the year of the date in the following sentance: Your August 13, 2002 letter gave no indication of your intentions.

Thanks for the input

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Commas are awful, aren't they?

Here, 'August 13, 2002' is an adjective modifying 'letter', so we do not want a comma after the year.

In 'On August 13, 2002, Jonathan Forbush ran the 3-minute mile', the comma marks the end of the adverbial phrase, and is needed to set it off from the main clause.

My feeling-- and practice-- and teaching-- is that the bottom line on comma use is clarity. The function of a comma is to clarify the relationships of the various clauses and phrases in the sentence. Not enough commas confuses, too many look cluttered and redundant. They should be helpers, not hindrances, and deployed as such.

As far as dates are concerned, I have taken to presenting them in the increasingly acceptable format of '13 August 2002'.

Hope this helps.

Anonymous · Answer

thanks for posting this - I have been looking for this answer for a long time!

Anonymous · Answer

I was wondering if the grammar is correct to type a date with the "th" followed by a comma in a sentence as follows:  November 28th, 2007.

BarbaraPA · Answer

It's a matter of style. You'll find many opinions on this. Just be consistent.

Anonymous · Answer

0Yes, you would put a comma after the year.0-

Anonymous · Answer

0Your assistant is right.  The sentence should read:  Your August 13, 2002, letter gave no indication of your intentions. 0-

BarbaraPA · Answer

0As I said back when this was first post (QUITE a while ago), it's a matter of style, not grammar. I always put the comma after the year (just as I do for the state) but it's not a universal style to do so.0-

Anonymous · Answer

The comma rule in question here is not a matter of sylistic choice. It is a tested rule in many state tests that public school students must pass. In the sample sentence given above, a comma is necessary. Send your letter before September 30, 2009, to our office. No comma is necessary if only the month and year are used. Your September 2009 issue of our magazine should arrive soon.

Now that people are having to be their own editors, correct use of conventions has declined drastically. Even newspapers like the New York Times contain many more errors than in days past when people made a living being copy editors.

Anonymous · Answer

There is supposed to be a comma after the year there.  That is the rule.  To advise somebody use the European method,13 August 2002, like is done in Europe, so you don't have to mess with commas, is disturbing and lazy.  What is this, the politically correct way to punctuate?  Let's be like the Europeans -NOT.  I hope this person went to another source for help.

BarbaraPA · Answer

AnonymousThere is supposed to be a comma after the year there. That is the rule. To advise somebody use the European method,13 August 2002, like is done in Europe, so you don't have to mess with commas, is disturbing and lazy. What is this, the politically correct way to punctuate? Let's be like the Europeans -NOT. I hope this person went to another source for help.

Anon, it's not "the rule." It's the guide under the style you have been taught. I have been taught the same way, and it's the style that *I* follow, but that doesn't make it the only way to do it, and it doesn't make it a rule. There is a trend toward globalization, in case you haven't noticed, and being adaptable to other styles is en essential aspect of future success.

Commas and dates

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