Is this sentence punctuated correctly? Why or why not

Question

The game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

The game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

It's fine.

If you remove the comma, it suggests that Russians also created other games in 1934 when they were not thinking of ways to kill time.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

Clive
Hi,

The game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

It's fine.

If you remove the comma, it suggests that Russians also created other games in 1934 when they were not thinking of ways to kill time.

Clive

Could you please further explain. I don't understand. Thanks.

Furthermore, how about this sentence: it the meaning altered with the comma?

The war ended in 1905 when Douglas’ troops surrendered at Mt. Fig Johnsen.

Cool Breeze · Answer

AnonymousThe game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

The sentence is fine as it is but it may be more common to leave out the comma, particularly since both the main clause and the subordinate clause are quite short. If you want the reader to pause and reflect upon what you have said before the subordinate clause (when the Russians were...) begins, you can keep the comma. It is more common to leave it out, though.

If you change the order of the clauses, the comma is usually used.
When the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time in 1934, the game was invented.

Note that I have put in 1934 at the end of the main clause. Nothing grammatical requires that; I just think it reads better that way.

CB

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

The game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

Consider these scenarios.

Let's say that in 1934, the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time in June, July and August. In the other months, they were not.

Scenario A. They created only one game in 1934, in July.

I'd say The game was created in 1934, when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

Scenario B. They created game #1 in February, and another game, #2, in July.

I'd say The game was created in 1934 when the Russians were thinking of ways to kill time.

Although scenario B is possible, I think you meant scenario A.

Best wishes, Clive

Goodman · Answer

Intuitively, I tend to go with the version without the comma which seems to flow better.

Cool Breeze · Answer

GoodmanIntuitively, I tend to go with the version without the comma which seems to flow better.

That's the normal usage, Goodman. I have certainly never seen Clive's interpretation in a temporal clause in my lifetime.
CB

Maple · Answer

To me

, when = and at that time

when = at the time when

Goodman · Answer

My perception is this:

Both contexts appear to have no obvious usage differences, which is a false impression. But they both are correct with out comma after [ when] in my opinion, although the usage is slightly different.

The period was the early 1950’s when most people never heard of the word transistor, and knew much less about what it did. When = is used as a relative adverb ( like that, or which).

Relative clauses with when, where and why

When - can be used as a relative adverb in a relative clause after the word time or other nouns which denote periods of time such as year, day, summer, etc. e.g.:

I remember the day when I first met her.

Wasn’t that the summer when we took the boys camping?

In the mid 1950's, computers were still made of vacuum tubes and were strickly for government used. When the first functional transistor was developed, people had no idea the impact it has imprinted in our lives until semiconductor came along.

When = during that time frame.

Goodman · Answer

My perception is this:

Both contexts appear to have no obvious usage differences, which is a false impression. But they both are correct with out comma after [ when] in my opinion, although the usage is slightly different.

The period was the early 1950’s when most people never heard of the word transistor, and knew much less about what it did. When = is used as a relative adverb ( like that, or which).

Relative clauses with when, where and why

When - can be used as a relative adverb in a relative clause after the word time or other nouns which denote periods of time such as year, day, summer, etc. e.g.:

I remember the day when I first met her.

Wasn’t that the summer when we took the boys camping?

In the mid 1950's, computers were still made of vacuum tubes and were strickly for government used. When the first functional transistor was developed, people had no idea the impact it has imprinted in our lives until semiconductor came along.

When = during that time frame.

Anonymous · Answer

Good post, Clive.

However, I would have to ask that if you refer to it as 'the game', then wouldn't the reader already know which game is being talked about, in which case you should use a comma.

Is this sentence punctuated correctly? Why or why not

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