comma after adverb in front position [necessary?]: Therefore, we can

F

fsto

Member
Switzerland - Wallis
Switzerland - French
Hi!

Do I have to put a comma after an adverb begining a sentence?

My attempt: "Therefore, we can easily understand that adverting is a mirror of the society. "

Thanks a lot!
 
    • jann

    jann

    co-mod'
    English - USA
    ayupshiplad said:
    Yes :)

    Therefore,...
    However,...
    Click to expand...

    However much thought you have given your statement, you may find you are mistaken if you resort to categorical generalities. ;)
    --> It is possible to construct at least this sentence where a comma after "however" would be quite incorrect.... :p

    Welcome, fsto!
    I have transferred this thread to the English Only forum, where I believe you will receive more replies. If you find that you need an explanation in French, please let me know and I will be happy to move the thread back to Fr-En Grammar. :)

    Jann
    Fr-En Moderator
     
    panjandrum

    panjandrum

    Senior Member
    Belfast, Ireland
    English-Ireland (top end)
    When a however or a however phrase is used to introduce a sentence, it needs a comma.
    However, we expect to be ...
    However hungry you feel, please do not eat the ...

    It is, itself, or it is introducing, a kind of aside to the audience before the main statement of the sentence.

    Looking at the words in the list, this applies for however and besides. Thus is a little different.
    Thus we shall discover that panj does not fully understand what to call that set of words "However hungry you feel".

    I'm not at all sure about commas after therefore.
    Partly because I'm not at all sure about therefore at the beginning of a sentence.
     
    A

    ayupshiplad

    Senior Member
    Edinburgh
    Scotland, English
    jann said:
    However much thought you have given your statement, you may find you are mistaken if you resort to categorical generalities. ;)
    --> It is possible to construct at least this sentence where a comma after "however" would be quite incorrect.... :p
    Click to expand...

    Ok, whenever 'however' is used on its own as an 'adversative adverb' (can you have 'adversative adverbs' like you can have adversative conjunctions?) at the beginning of a sentence, you need a comma after it!

    Better?
     
    A

    ayupshiplad

    Senior Member
    Edinburgh
    Scotland, English
    panjandrum said:
    Looking at the words in the list, this applies for however, therefore and besides. Thus is a little different.
    Thus we shall discover that panj does not fully understand what to call that set of words "However hungry you feel".
    Click to expand...

    Doesn't thus sometimes take a comma though?
     
    nichec

    nichec

    Senior Member
    Chinese(Taiwan)
    fsto said:
    Hi!

    Do I have to put a comma after an adverb begining a sentence?

    My attempt: "Therefore, we can easily understand that adverting is a mirror of the society. "

    Thanks a lot!
    Click to expand...

    Welcome to the forum :)

    I don't know about you guys, but I don't see why a comma is "absolutely" needed in this sentence.

    I suppose this is a sentence in the middle of a speech or paper or somewhere (whatever it is), and it goes like "............Therefore we can easily understand that adverting is a mirror of the society."

    Nichec is a young girl with silly little head. Therefore we don't really have to pay attention to anything she said. (doesn't seem wrong to me, without a comma....)
     
    se16teddy

    se16teddy

    Senior Member
    London but from Yorkshire
    English - England
    ayupshiplad said:
    Ok, whenever 'however' is used on its own as an 'adversative adverb' (can you have 'adversative adverbs' like you can have adversative conjunctions?) at the beginning of a sentence, you need a comma after it!
    Better?
    Click to expand...
    However you commonly see however without a comma at the beginning of a sentence, even when it is functioning as an 'adversative adverb', and even in reputable sources. See here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4346624.stm However he said that if... I think that the less this however is emphasized, the less of a gap you put in speech after it, and the less this gap is reflected in writing with a comma.
     
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