To continue my punctuation parade (if you missed the first installment, see this post on The Classic Comma - absolutely fascinating reading (or at least, it might be if you're a punctuation purist), today I'd like to chat about one of my pet peeve commas: The Clause Comma. There are many clauses around town, but I believe that the clause comma is the only one of its kind - one in which "clause" is the adjective rather than the noun. Please don't confuse it with The Santa Clause (or THE Santa Claus), a raven's claws, or the clause in your homeowners' insurance policy that denies payment if the company isn't in the mood to pay on your claim because Sid the Salesman had diarrhea last week.
Clauses are more common than fleas on your beloved dog. A"clause" is basically a string of words that, when placed in a certain order, mean something. There are dependent clauses that merely introduce an idea but don't form a complete thought, and there are independent clauses that can stroll around all on their own.
One of my favorite uses for the clause comma (and there are many) is to separate an introductory dependent clause from the independent clause that follows it. The problem, as I see it, is that not every writer understands the importance of the clause comma.
I'm a big Louise Penny fan. My brother introduced me to her last summer, and I began to devour the books in her Armand Gamache series.
But alas, Ms. Penny (or her editor/proofreader) does not believe in the clause comma. When I come across one of her sentences with an introductory dependent (usually adverbial) clause without a comma that separates it from the independent clause, I'm thrown off a bit. I misinterpret the sentence. Most of the time, my interpretation doesn't make sense, so I have to read the sentence again (sometimes more than once) in order to understand. When I mentally place the comma in its appropriate place, the meaning is clear, I am at peace, and I can go on with the story.
Without the comma after an introductory dependent clause, I keep on reading without pause 'cause there's no comma to tell me it's the end of a clause! With a well-placed comma, I know that I'm at the end of a thought, there's more coming. My thinking shifts just a tad, which enables me to comprehend the full meaning of the sentence without re-reading it.
One of my favorite uses for the clause comma (and there are many) is to separate an introductory dependent clause from the independent clause that follows it. The problem, as I see it, is that not every writer understands the importance of the clause comma.
I'm a big Louise Penny fan. My brother introduced me to her last summer, and I began to devour the books in her Armand Gamache series.
But alas, Ms. Penny (or her editor/proofreader) does not believe in the clause comma. When I come across one of her sentences with an introductory dependent (usually adverbial) clause without a comma that separates it from the independent clause, I'm thrown off a bit. I misinterpret the sentence. Most of the time, my interpretation doesn't make sense, so I have to read the sentence again (sometimes more than once) in order to understand. When I mentally place the comma in its appropriate place, the meaning is clear, I am at peace, and I can go on with the story.
Without the comma after an introductory dependent clause, I keep on reading without pause 'cause there's no comma to tell me it's the end of a clause! With a well-placed comma, I know that I'm at the end of a thought, there's more coming. My thinking shifts just a tad, which enables me to comprehend the full meaning of the sentence without re-reading it.
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