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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Commas with "If" Clauses
I've been wondering recently what is the best way to format the following sentence:
I hope that, if you go tomorrow, you get to talk to her.
I hope that if you go tomorrow, you get to talk to her.
I hope that if you go tomorrow you get to talk to her.
I feel like I've seen all three forms used. The last looks wrong for sure.
I kind of like how the first one looks because the "if you go tomorrow" isn't necessary---I would still hope that he gets to talk to her.
Is it dependant on the context? Do I use the first one if I hope he gets to talk to her at any time and the second one if I only hope that he gets to talk to her if he goes?
I hope that, if you go tomorrow, you get to talk to her.
I hope that if you go tomorrow, you get to talk to her.
I hope that if you go tomorrow you get to talk to her.
I feel like I've seen all three forms used. The last looks wrong for sure.
I kind of like how the first one looks because the "if you go tomorrow" isn't necessary---I would still hope that he gets to talk to her.
Is it dependant on the context? Do I use the first one if I hope he gets to talk to her at any time and the second one if I only hope that he gets to talk to her if he goes?
Top answer
Hello The first and third ones are correct. 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas. However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence.
- Hello The first and third ones are correct.
- 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas.
- However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence.
- )
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3 Answers
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Hello
The first and third ones are correct. 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas. However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence. (We don't want to over-punctuate sentences with commas if it detracts from the idea being written.)
The first and third ones are correct. 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas. However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence. (We don't want to over-punctuate sentences with commas if it detracts from the idea being written.)
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Hello
The first and third ones are correct. 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas. However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence. (We don't want to over-punctuate sentences with commas if it detracts from the idea being written.)
The first and third ones are correct. 'if you go tomorrow' isn't necessary for a grammatically correct sentence so it's separated by commas. However, people use the third form because it's quite a short sentence. (We don't want to over-punctuate sentences with commas if it detracts from the idea being written.)
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I've checked in my line-by-line book, and it appears that nobody knows. If the clause is clearly nonrestrictive only the first is correct, but I do not think that is the case here. Both the first and the second form have been used. The third could also be used because the sentence is rather short, as was already said before me.
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