Subordinating conjunction with a comma

Question

Both otherwise and whereas are subordinating conjunctions.I ran home otherwise I would have been late.      OR             I ran home, otherwise I would have been late.I ran home whereas Jim walked home.              OR              I ran home, whereas Jim walked home.In general, no comma precedes a subordinating conjunction if it comes after a main clause; however, in the cases above, I feel a comma should or could be used.1)What do you think? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For those who have not heard of this place, it is right next to the Church.2)What type of phrase is/are the bold words above? Is it an absolute phrase? It doesn't seem to answer an adverbial question.3)In the question I asked above, should it be is or are? In other words, is the subject the singular word phrase or the plural word words?----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Thanks a lot and happy new year!

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,
Both otherwise and whereas are subordinating conjunctions.
My dictionary calls 'otherwise' an adverb.
So does, for example, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/otherwise[2 ]

I don't object to any of the following.
I ran home, otherwise I would have been late.
I ran home, or otherwise I would have been late.
I ran home. Otherwise, I would have been late.

I ran home otherwise I would have been late. OR I ran home, otherwise I would have been late.

I ran home whereas Jim walked home. OR I ran home, whereas Jim walked home.

I'd certainly put a comma in these examples. It seems to me that the writer wants the reader to pause and establish the first idea clearly in his mind before proceeding to consider the second idea.

In general, no comma precedes a subordinating conjunction if it comes after a main clause; however, in the cases above, I feel a comma should or could be used.
Are you sure that what follows is a subordinate clause? I'm not.

1)What do you think?

--
For those who have not heard of this place, it is right next to the Church.

2)What type of phrase is/are the bold words above? Is it an absolute phrase? It doesn't seem to answer an adverbial question. Sorry, I'm not familiar with the term 'absolute phrase'.
Your example seems to me just a longer form of a simple phrase like For Tom, his office is next to his house.
So, does 'For Tom' meet your definition of 'an absolute phrase'?

3)In the question I asked above, should it be is or are? In other words, is the subject the singular word phrase or the plural word words? I'd use 'is'. But I'd be a little more comfortable avoiding the problem by saying something like What type of phrase is formed by the bold words above?

Best wishes, Clive

Eddie88 · Answer

Sorry, yes, you are right; otherwise is an adverb. Thanks for picking that up.

Are you sure that what follows is a subordinate clause? I'm not.

Yes, they are adverb clauses.

I ran home otherwise I would have been late.

'otherwise' is an adverb; it is the head/subordinating conjunction of the dependent, adverbial clause. It answers 'why' I ran home.

Absolute phrase= Noun or pronoun and a participle with modifiers. It has no grammatical connection to any part of speech, instead modifies the entire rest of the sentence.

And remember, although 'For Tom' is a prepositional phrase, it still, like all other prepositional phrases, has to act like an adverb, noun, or pronoun.

For those who have not heard of this place, it is right next to the church.

I thought that it could be an absolute phrase; however, it seems to just be 'for those' with a relative clause...

Cheers.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
otherwise is an adverb. Thanks for picking that up.

Are you sure that what follows is a subordinate clause? I'm not.

Yes, they are adverb clauses.

I ran home otherwise I would have been late.

'otherwise' is an adverb; it is the head/subordinating conjunction <<< I thought we just agreed that it was an adverb?
of the dependent, adverbial clause. It answers 'why' I ran home.

Are you suggesting that 'Otherwise, I would have been late.' can't be written as a correct stand-alone sentence?

Absolute phrase= Noun or pronoun and a participle with modifiers. It has no grammatical connection to any part of speech, instead modifies the entire rest of the sentence.

And remember, although 'For Tom' is a prepositional phrase, it still, like all other prepositional phrases, has to act like an adverb, noun, or pronoun.

For those who have not heard of this place, it is right next to the church.

I thought that it could be an absolute phrase; however, it seems to just be 'for those' with a relative clause... Yes. That's why I said it just seemed a longer version of 'for Tom'.

Clive

Eddie88 · Answer

Hi, I looked on a website remembered that 'otherwise' is a conjunctive adverb; it is just like 'therefore', 'however', etc.

Therefore, it should read, 'I ran home; otherwise, I would have been late. OR I ran home. Otherwise, I would have been late.

I knew it had to be a conjunction of some sort as it there are two clauses, and an adverb can't join clauses...can they...

Would you agree with this then?

Clive · Answer

Hi,
I looked on a website remembered that 'otherwise' is a conjunctive adverb; it is just like 'therefore', 'however', etc.
I'm not really familiar with the term 'conjunctive adverb', since I didn't learn that when I was in school.

Therefore, it should read, 'I ran home; otherwise, I would have been late. OR I ran home. Otherwise, I would have been late. I agree with these constructions.
We certainly also say things like 'I ran home, otherwise I would have been late' . However, if I were trying to speak more carefully and wanted to use one sentence, I think I might consider something like 'I ran home, since otherwise I would have been late'

I knew it had to be a conjunction of some sort as it there are two clauses, and an adverb can't join clauses...can they...

I wouldn't write something like 'I ran home, however I was late'.

I'd even hesitate about 'I ran home, therefore I was not late' (although there is of course the often-quoted 'I think, therefore I am'.)

Clive

Eddie88 · Answer

We certainly also say things like 'I ran home, otherwise I would have been late' . However, if I were trying to speak more carefully and wanted to use one sentence, I think I might consider something like 'I ran home, since otherwise I would have been late'

'I ran home, otherwise I would have been late.'

This would be grammatically incorrect (as you know). A coordinating conjunction cannot join two main clauses together with a comma. It needs to have a semicolon preceeding it or a full stop.

Iwouldn't write something like 'I ran home, however I was late'.

I'd even hesitate about 'I ran home, therefore I was not late'

Yes, these would be wrong, too. It needs to have a semicolon before it, or a full stop.

This site here pretty much says what I have said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjunctive_adverb

Cheers.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
OK, but for myself I'd be more comfortable with calling them 'conjunctive adverbs' than 'co-ordinating conjunctions'.

Clive

Eddie88 · Answer

?? I think you misunderstood me...Or I wrote it down incorrectly lol.

Coordinating conjunctions: FANBOYS= For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So

Some include 'while' too.

Conjunctive adverbs: Huge list of them. You would have seen them on the link I gave you. They cannot join two main clauses with a comma, whereas a coordinating conjunction can. They don't join sentences as such; they are used for flow between two ideas/clauses.

Otherwise=conjunctive adverb

I'm sure you know this already; I think we misunderstood each other.

Clive · Answer

Hi,
Yes, apparently there's a misunderstanding.
I was looking at this statement of yours, from our discussion of 'otherwise' and 'therefore', to which I thought you were referring. A coordinating conjunction cannot join two main clauses together with a comma. It needs to have a semicolon preceeding it or a full stop.

With regard to FANBOYS, are you for example suggesting that I can never put a comma in front of 'and' when I am joining two main clauses? I find that an odd idea.

Clive

Eddie88 · Answer

A coordinating conjunction cannot join two main clauses together with a comma. It needs to have a semicolon preceeding it or a full stop.

Sorry, sometimes I write too fast for my own good; the marked out word should be conjunctive adverb.

Co-odinating conjunctions=7 of them. FANBOYS acronym.

Conjunctive adverb=such words as 'however,' 'therefore,' 'consequently,' 'moreover,' 'thus,' hence, etc

In American English, a coordinating conjunction always need a comma preceeding it when they join independent clause. Knowing this rule can help reduce the number of commas in one's writing. For instance, a comma is not necessary here, but writers often see a coordinating conjunction and think a comma is needed:

"I went to school and went to church on the same day." No comma is needed here.

However, if I add a subject to the phrase after the 'and,' a comma is needed.

'I went to School, and I went to Church on the same day.' Now, there are two independent clauses on either side, so a comma is needed.

However, some writers persist they can omit the comma when the clauses are very short. 'I ran and I walked.'

Conjunctive adverbs can join two independent clauses. However, when doing so, they need a semicolon, not a comma.

~~I went to School, however I was late~~

~~I went to School, however, I was late~~

I went to School; however, I was late. OR I went to School. However, I was late. (depends if you want them to flow)

Sorry for confusing you before.

Subordinating conjunction with a comma

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