|
ESL Forum:
Techniques and methods
in Language Teaching
Games, activities
and teaching ideas
Grammar and
Linguistics
Teaching material
Concerning
worksheets
Concerning
powerpoints
Concerning online
exercises
Make suggestions,
report errors
Ask for help
Message board
|
ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > clear this up for me
clear this up for me
|
miesies muis
|
clear this up for me
|
|
I was taught in school that one should use a comma (,) before but.
The children went to school, but they forgot their lunch.
Was I taught wrong? Does it have something to do with the difference between British and American English? |
2 Oct 2010
|
|
|
|
el_profe55
|
|
EXPLANAITION 1
Examples:
I have painted
the entire house, but he is still working on sanding the doors.
I paint and he
writes.
So, use a comma to separate two strong clauses joined by
a coordinating conjunction--and, or, but, for, nor. You can omit the
comma if the clauses are both short.
EXPLANATION 2:
When a coordinating conjunction connects two INDEPENDANT CLAUSES, it is
often (but not always) accompanied by a comma:
o
Ulysses wants to
play for River Plate, but he has had trouble meeting the academic
requirements.
When the two
independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction are nicely balanced
or brief, many writers will omit the comma:
o
Ulysses has a
great jump shot but he isn �t quick on his feet.
The comma is
always correct when used to separate two independent clauses connected by a
coordinating conjunction. Alex Carr |
2 Oct 2010
|
|
|
cauffeepot
|
|
but is a conjunction, which means it joins two sentences together that could stand as complete sentences on their own. Therefore you don �t need a comma. |
3 Oct 2010
|
|
|
kodora
|
Know
that as a coordinating conjunction, "but" nearly always requires a
comma. For example: "The zookeepers watched the lions in the cage, but
they ignored a peacock on the run."
Use "but" as a preposition, as in "Everyone but Sally went to the museum." No comma is required for use as a preposition.
|
3 Oct 2010
|
|
|
almaz
|
|
Miesies, ask yourself: If I omit the comma between these two clauses, would it make the sentence ambiguous? If not, you can choose to use the comma or miss it out - even the most peevish of modern prescriptivists couldn �t fault you there. |
3 Oct 2010
|
|
|
joy2bill
|
|
With computers, etc punctuation is becoming a bit of a lost art, don �t you think? |
3 Oct 2010
|
|
|
