mom31257 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 (edited) My daughter and I are wondering about commas and clauses. Here are 2 sentences from the teacher edition of our grammar book. 1. Along the trail many people and cattle died from diseases or starvation. 2. As towns grew, more women came to the West. Our question is why is there a comma in the second sentence but not the first? She felt that they were both dependent clauses and both needed commas. What says the Hive? Edited October 2, 2009 by mom31257 add in numeration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HayesW Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 I would put a comma in both of them as well. Even teacher's manuals make mistakes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julieofsardis Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 :iagree: Along the trail, ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trixie Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 The first example actually begins with a prepositional phrase. The general rule is that prep. phrases of fewer than four words aren't set off with a comma unless omitting the comma will create confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kckamy Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 The first example actually begins with a prepositional phrase. The general rule is that prep. phrases of fewer than four words aren't set off with a comma unless omitting the comma will create confusion. This is correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 My daughter and I are wondering about commas and clauses. Here are 2 sentences from the teacher edition of our grammar book. 1. Along the trail many people and cattle died from diseases or starvation. 2. As towns grew, more women came to the West. Our question is why is there a comma in the second sentence but not the first? She felt that they were both dependent clauses and both needed commas. What says the Hive? The first sentence starts with a prepositional phrase, not a clause, and it doesn't have to have a comma unless it is more than a few words or it is not clear without the comma. The second starts with an adverbial clause. A quick way to tell the difference is to look for a verb. If an adverbial clause is at the beginning of a sentence, it is always followed by a comma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Thanks for all the help. The idea on looking for verbs in adverbial clauses will really help us in the future. I also printed off a list of prepositions to keep on hand. My degree is in math, and I've taught some high school science. My dh is a high school social studies teacher, so grammar/language arts is the area I feel we're most lacking in. It's so nice to have a group of great people for the help you need! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.