Hence

Question

Should hence be followed by a comma?

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

Hi Anon

The following examples are from the BNC.

I conclude from the examples that the comma is optional. Other members may disagree with my view.

Hence social contracts may bind, not all members of a society, but members of some group within society.

Hence it was the inevitable application of the law as stated in the passage cited from the judgment of Bingham L.J.

Hence the vocabulary of the system is effectively unlimited, unlike models working at the word level where the size of the model increases very rapidly with the size of the vocabulary.

Hence, the differences are often subtle and impressionistic rather than obvious.

Hence, the route is known as the quasi-periodicity route.

Ferdis · Answer

It is allowed to omit the comma. If you do use one it tends to give emphasis to the word hence because it implies a pause in speech.  Also, add a comma to avoid confusion. For example, consider the sentence 'A year hence consists of 365 days'. This is difficult to read -- because readers will think you start the sentence by saying 'one year from now' -- and should be written as 'A year, hence, consists of 365 days'.

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