Comma After Introductory Phrase

Comma After Introductory Phrase

Put together by Alberto Apalategui

The arrangement of words and phrases to create a well written sentence.

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Syntax is how you choose to write your sentences often using commas,​ colons, and semicolons.

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Syntax

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Syntax Cont'd

Here are two ways to write a sentence, and play with syntax:

Because my room was hot, my parents decided to buy me a fan.

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My parents ​decided to buy me a fan because my room was hot.

Note:

"Because my room was hot," is a dependent clause. An independent clause/complete sentence is needed to make sense of this because information is missing.

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Introductory Phrases

Introductory clauses are dependent clauses that are often found at the beginning of the sentence (although they can be moved to the end of the sentence, too, without confusing the meaning of the sentence).

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Introductory Phrases Cont'd

After a dependent introductory clause, we use a comma to separate the introductory clause from the independent clause. Consider the examples below:

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Incorrect: As the man was walking into the store he came face to face with his childhood sweetheart.

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Correct: ​As the man was walking into the store, he came face to face with his childhood sweetheart.

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​Here is a list of introductory words that help create introductory phrases.

Open Ended

Re-arrange the sentence to create an introductory phrase:

The day’s Little League games were postponed because the rain was torrential.

Open Ended

Re-arrange the sentence to create an introductory phrase:

Our teacher is letting us try it again tomorrow since we failed the test.

Introductory Phrases Cont'd

As with many other rules in English grammar, the comma-after-introductory-clauses rule comes with an exception. When the introductory clause is short, the comma may be omitted as a matter of style. See the example below:

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Grabbing her umbrella, Kate raced out of the house.

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Grabbing her umbrella Kate raced out of the house.

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Since the introductory clause consists of only three words, the comma separating the introductory clause from the main clause may or may not be used.

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