Question about punctuation
Jul. 16th, 2021 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaHere is a sentence with three variations in the comma placement:
1) It was not yet noon, and though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
2) It was not yet noon and, though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
3) It was not yet noon, and, though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
I feel like 1) is the most common today and the one I would have used before my current fandom. But the 1925 book I'm writing fic for only uses 2) and 3), so that's what I am now using in my fic. I suppose 2) and 3) do make more sense in a way, because if you remove the phrase "though it was October" with its surrounding commas, you still get a sentence that works, which is not the case in the first one if you remove "and though it was October" with its surrounding commas.
My sample here is just one author, but I do wonder whether 2) and 3) are more old-fashioned ways of using commas?
1) It was not yet noon, and though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
2) It was not yet noon and, though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
3) It was not yet noon, and, though it was October, Keith thought he might reach Ardroy that same day.
I feel like 1) is the most common today and the one I would have used before my current fandom. But the 1925 book I'm writing fic for only uses 2) and 3), so that's what I am now using in my fic. I suppose 2) and 3) do make more sense in a way, because if you remove the phrase "though it was October" with its surrounding commas, you still get a sentence that works, which is not the case in the first one if you remove "and though it was October" with its surrounding commas.
My sample here is just one author, but I do wonder whether 2) and 3) are more old-fashioned ways of using commas?
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-16 03:42 pm (UTC)In (formal) US English rules, you definitely need a comma after "noon" (two independent clauses connected with the coordinating conjunction "and" -- which is still supposed to be taught in Common Core standards in the US!), and I was taught to put commas around "though it was October" because it's a clause that can be taken out from the sentence without incident (as you say). So, #3.
But I feel like in informal writing in the US, the "two independent clauses connected with coordinating conjunction needs a comma" rule has gotten to be unused/very optional -- I don't necessarily use that rule in, say, personal emails and fic, though I'd use it in work emails or work writing.
UK rules are different and I have no idea what those are, except that I think they often involve using fewer commas? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-16 09:20 pm (UTC)It does seem like an excessive rule to me. I mean, in the sentence "The sky is blue and the grass is green." the clauses are so short that I wouldn't put the comma in. But with longer clauses, I'd most often put the comma in.
I didn't know until this post that US and UK rules for commas were different!