Placement of the comma
A few days ago, my non-native English speaking friends and I talked about two sentences we made up. We were not sure if they conveyed different meanings.
(1) He says that he likes physics and wants to learn more about it.
(2) He says that he likes physics, and wants to learn more about it.
We think (1) means he says two things: he likes physics and he wants to learn more.
We think the comma in (2) suggests that he says only one thing: he likes physics. One might be able to tell that he wants to learn more even though he does not say it directly. Probably, his friends know he frequently borrows physics books from the library, attends a physics club, and so on. You can read both sentences this way.
(1a) He says that he likes physics, and he also says that he wants to learn more about it.
(2a) He says that he likes physics, and he wants to learn more about it.
We are not sure if the comma in (2) makes the sentence convey a different meaning.
What is your opinion? Thanks a lot.
Top answer
There is a very simple rule that governs this situation, and it may surprise you that it has nothing to do with any change of meaning. If you have an explicit subject in the clause after "and", use a comma. If you do not have an explicit subject there, do not use a comma.
- There is a very simple rule that governs this situation, and it may surprise you that it has nothing to do with any change of meaning.
- If you have an explicit subject in the clause after "and", use a comma.
- If you do not have an explicit subject there, do not use a comma.
- He says that he likes physics , and he wants to learn more about it.
- He says that he likes physics and wants to learn more about it.
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There is a very simple rule that governs this situation, and it may surprise you that it has nothing to do with any change of meaning.
If you have an explicit subject in the clause after "and", use a comma.
If you do not have an explicit subject there, do not use a comma.
He says that he likes physics, and he wants to learn more about it.
He says tha
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