comma after 'since' [conjunction]: since, with raised fares, people

[prime123]

Hello.
A friend of mine found the following sentence, Sentence A, in her study book of English and asked me if the punctuation is correct. She thinks the first comma should be placed before the word "since," not after it.

I'm not sure if Sentence A is grammatically correct. Is it correct? I tried to correct it myself and made Setence A', but it still sounds a bit awkward to me. Please help me with the correct punctuation and correct Sentence A if it's incorrect.

A) I am worried about air pollution since, railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car.

A') I am worried about air pollution since, with railroad fares having been raised, more people would prefer to travel by car.

Thanks in advance.

 

[WanderingZombie]

I think your friend is right. I would put the comma before the word 'since'. But it's really meant to be a long pause so it could even be as two sentences and lose the word 'would':
I am worried about air pollution. Since railroad fares were raised, more people prefer to travel by car.

 

[entangledbank]

(A) is wrong, and (A') is a good attempt at fixing it. A simpler fix would be:

B) I am worried about air pollution since, if railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car.

Just moving the comma isn't right. Without the 'if'-phrase, the comma would be optional:

C1) I am worried about air pollution since too many people travel by car.
C2) I am worried about air pollution, since too many people travel by car.

You could add this comma in (B) but you would get the ugly-looking punctuation ', since,'

 

[Perseas]

Do you find that correct?

Since the railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car, which makes me worry about the air polution.

 

[Copyright]

Do you find that correct?

Since the railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car, which makes me worry about the air polution.

I do like the chronology of events, yes, although I don't like these events "making me worry," so I would end with: "so I worry about air pollution." And drop the "would" -- just "prefer."

 

[Myridon]

A) I am worried about air pollution since, railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car.

Mine) I am worried about air pollution. Since railroad fares were raised, more people would prefer to travel by car.
In this version, I have only changed the punctuation. It would be much better without the "would."

 

[prime123]

Thank you so much for your prompt answers to my questions, WanderingZombie, Entanglebank, Perseas, Copyright and Myridon. They all help me a lot. Please just let me confirm the meaning of "since" in the following fixed sentences.

Since the railroad fares were raised, more people prefer to travel by car. So I worry about the air polution. (By Copyright)
I am worried about air pollution. Since railroad fares were raised, more people prefer to travel by car. (by WanderingZombie)

"Since" here means "from the time when," not "because." Am I right?

Actually, the book has a Japanese translation. If I translate it back into English, it would be something like this:
I'm worried about possible air pollution - I think more people will travel by car rather than by train because railroad fares have been raised.

The Japanese translation might be wrong, though.

 

[Perseas]

I wouldn't say that "since" functions here as a temporal conjuction, but rather as causal one.

Here are some examples taken from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

- I' ve been very busy since I came back from holiday. -- Here it means from a particular time in the past until a later time.
- Since we' ve got a few minutes to wait for the train, let's have a cup of coffee. -- Here it means "because".

You can also look at this previous thread and mainly at posts #4 and #2 with suggested links regarding the use of "since" and "because" in general.

 

[prime123]

Thank you, Peaseas, for your kind answer with helpful links.

------
Since the railroad fares were raised, more people prefer to travel by car. So I worry about the air polution.
------
I think that "since" here is used as a temporal conjunction because it's followed by the verb in the past tense , "were."
Correct me if I'm wrong. If it's in the past tense, it just mentions the fact in the past and dosen't refer to the present state.
So I think the fact that "railroad fares were raised" has nothing to do with the present state of "more people prefer to travel by car."

However, I learned in my grammar class that "since" as a temporal conjunction is usually used in *a present perfect sentence.
Since railroad fares were raised, more people have preferred to travel by car.
That's why I'm confused.

Thank you so much for your time and attention.
-------------
*I made a mistake. I meant "'since' as a temporal conjunction is usually used in sentences in the present and past perfect."

 

[panjandrum]

...

However, I learned in my grammar class that "since" as a temporal conjunction is usually used in a present perfect sentence.
Since railroad fares were raised, more people have preferred to travel by car.
That's why I'm confused.

Thank you so much for your time and attention.

I'm surprised to see that someone has suggested that a temporal since is usually followed by present perfect.
I'm sure there are many examples of such usage, but it is by no means essential.
Since railroad fares were raised, more people prefer to travel by car.

I, personally, do not like using "since" unless it has a temporal meaning. If there is no temporal sense, then "as" is usually good enough.

 

[prime123]

Thank you, Panjandrum, for your great help.

I made a mistake. I meant to say that I learned that a temporal "since" is usually used in a present and past perfect sentence.
Anyway, thanks for the input.