Then (comma usage)

Question

Use degreaser and water on the chain then lubricate it, and throw it into the garage.Do we need a comma before 'then' or a conjunction and then.What are the rules when using then. Can it start a dependent clause?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

First of all, your comma is in the wrong place:

Use degreaser and water on the chain, then lubricate it and throw it in the garage. ["In" and not "into" because "into" has you literally tossing it through a door or window, whereas "in" gives the desired meaning of "put it in the garage, I don't care where."]

"Then" is routinely used as a coordinating conjunction in informal writing and everyday speech. Only grammarians care whether you have "and" before it or not. In the most formal writing, its use as a coordinating conjunction is probably still best avoided.

BillJ · Answer

Comment cancelled and re-posted as an answer.

BillJ · Answer

Use degreaser and water on the chain, then lubricate it and throw it into the garage.

Interesting question.

The underlined elements are main clauses (imperatives), which are normally separated by a coordinator like "and" or heavy punctuation such as a full stop, colon, or semicolon. Which means that a comma after "chain" is inadequate, since commas separates phrases, but not main clauses.

But in a way the clauses share the same subject, i.e. the covert "you", so we could say they are forming a coordination of verb phrases, where the first two coordinates are separated by a comma, and the final one by "and".

“Then” is not introducing the lubricate clause – it's an adjunct not a conjunction, so it can't introduce clauses.

The optional "then" is anaphoric here, though it doesn't refer to the same time as its antecedent, but to a time closely following, where it means “after that”.

Then (comma usage)

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