comma before and after 'then eventually' [adverb]

[ryansamturner]

Please see the below sentences.

He tried and tried, then eventually, he gave up.

We had a jovial argument about who should pay, then eventually, I gave in, and he went back up to the bar.

That is how I've been writing these sentences; however, would you agree that they are correct.
I liked seperating 'then eventually' from the rest of the sentence to add a pause.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Ryan

 

[xqby]

I tend to use "then" as a conjunction as well; I think doing so is totally fine.

I don't think I quite agree with your punctuation around "eventually," though. I would either set it off with commas on both sides to emphasize that it took a while for him to give in, or just not use any.

 

[ryansamturner]

Thanks for the reply.

I just feel maybe putting the comma in after 'eventually' is a bit over heavy with the commas in that sentence.

We had a jovial argument about who should pay, then, eventually, I gave in, and he went back up to the bar.

I do prefer it that way compared to not having one at all, however.

We had a jovial argument about who should pay, then eventually I gave in, and he went back up to the bar.

I think it certainly needs a comma after 'eventually' to create that 'dramatic' pause.

 

[panjandrum]

As in the other thread, the word "eventually" is an aside and should be set apart from the rest of the sentence by a comma on either side.

For more information, see the punctuation guides listed in the sticky thread about resources that is at the top of this forum.