This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
it was done
with a patience that at first terrified and then bored

Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

use of a comma

English answer:

Putting a comma there is a punctuation error

Added to glossary by B D Finch
Oct 8, 2019 08:05
4 yrs ago
English term

a comma

Non-PRO English Other Other Punctuation
The relative standard deviation for the retention times of isopropanol and dimethylformamide, should be no more than 2.0%.

Do I have to put a comma in this phrase? What's the general rule for?
Responses
4 +8 Putting a comma there is a punctuation error
5 +4 No need to use a comma
5 +2 No comma needed
Change log

Oct 8, 2019 08:05: Alexander Grabowski changed "Language pair" from "Russian to English" to "English"

Oct 8, 2019 09:11: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (write-in)" from "Syntax�" to "Punctuation / Syntax�"

Oct 8, 2019 11:26: writeaway changed "Field (write-in)" from "Punctuation / Syntax�" to "Punctuation "

Oct 8, 2019 11:32: Rob Grayson changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Oct 10, 2019 11:24: B D Finch Created KOG entry

Oct 10, 2019 11:25: B D Finch changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/570330">B D Finch's</a> old entry - "a comma"" to ""Putting a comma there is a punctuation error""

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (1): David Moore (X)

Non-PRO (3): Yvonne Gallagher, ael, Rob Grayson

When entering new questions, KudoZ askers are given an opportunity* to classify the difficulty of their questions as 'easy' or 'pro'. If you feel a question marked 'easy' should actually be marked 'pro', and if you have earned more than 20 KudoZ points, you can click the "Vote PRO" button to recommend that change.

How to tell the difference between "easy" and "pro" questions:

An easy question is one that any bilingual person would be able to answer correctly. (Or in the case of monolingual questions, an easy question is one that any native speaker of the language would be able to answer correctly.)

A pro question is anything else... in other words, any question that requires knowledge or skills that are specialized (even slightly).

Another way to think of the difficulty levels is this: an easy question is one that deals with everyday conversation. A pro question is anything else.

When deciding between easy and pro, err on the side of pro. Most questions will be pro.

* Note: non-member askers are not given the option of entering 'pro' questions; the only way for their questions to be classified as 'pro' is for a ProZ.com member or members to re-classify it.

Discussion

Elena Ivanova Oct 8, 2019:
The general rule is "no comma between subject and predicate".

Responses

+8
1 hr
Selected

Putting a comma there is a punctuation error

There definitely shouldn't be any comma there. However, Elena isn't quite right to say that 'The general rule is "no comma between subject and predicate".' You would have two commas between a subject and predicate if they were used to mark an intervening phrase, clause or conjunctive adverb.

The relative standard deviation for the retention times of isopropanol and dimethylformamide should be no more than 2.0%.

The relative standard deviation for the retention times of isopropanol and dimethylformamide, moreover, should be no more than 2.0%.

The relative standard deviation for the retention times of isopropanol and dimethylformamide, if there are no intervening variables, should be no more than 2.0%.
Peer comment(s):
agree Daryo
38 mins
Thanks Daryo
agree Yvonne Gallagher
40 mins
Thanks Yvonne
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
59 mins
Thanks Frank
agree ael
1 hr
Thanks
agree Sarah Lewis-Morgan
3 hrs
Thanks Sarah
agree Armorel Young : Well said
4 hrs
Thanks Amorel
agree David Moore (X) : You are right, it is wrongly punctuated. But do I detect an error in the absence of a space before the "%" sign? I do believe English calls for this.//No, I was half-right here; I use the ISO 31.0 rule, so I always use a space.
4 hrs
Thanks David. No, there shouldn't be a space before the "%" sign; that's there in French, not English.// I just looked that up and it seems to have been withdrawn.
agree jccantrell
6 hrs
Thanks
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you!"
+4
11 mins

No need to use a comma

I do not think so. No comma is necessary. It is one sentence in continuation.
When comma is used it breaks the meaning.
“While a period ends a sentence, a comma indicates a smaller break. Some writers think of a comma as a soft pause—a punctuation mark that separates words, clauses, or ideas within a sentence.”
Reference:

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/

Peer comment(s):
agree Emily Gilby
8 mins
agree Erta Zykaj
34 mins
neutral writeaway : It's not just unnecessary, it's incorrect.
57 mins
agree Mark Robertson
1 hr
neutral B D Finch : Not just unnecessary, it positively should not be there.
1 hr
disagree Yvonne Gallagher : it's wrong
2 hrs
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
2 hrs
agree Ashutosh Mitra
4 days
Something went wrong...
+2
19 mins

No comma needed

What precedes the verb is the subject of the sentence and you don’t put a comma between the subject and the verb.
Peer comment(s):
agree Sheila Wilson : You must not put a comma there. As an English proofreader, I'd take it out every time.
36 mins
neutral writeaway : It's more like unwanted/incorrect.
50 mins
agree Mark Robertson
1 hr
neutral B D Finch : Not just not needed, it is wrong to have a comma there.
1 hr
disagree Yvonne Gallagher : it's wrong
2 hrs
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
2 hrs
Something went wrong...
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search