comma before and after 'whereas' / before 'if' [conjunction]

8

8769

Senior Member
Japanese and Japan
I am taking dictation from part of a dialog between a Japanese man and an American woman in a radio program. The blank ( ) is where I got stuck. The point is whether I should put a comma or commas.

J: Some extroverted business executives can become ruthless and abrasive, too.
A: Yeah, I think so. Ruthless might depend a bit on whether they've made a decision against you or not.
J: That can be positive.
A: Well, I don't know if positive is quite the right word.
J: Uh-huh.
A: But someone…the same CEO, making a decision for you, might be considered decisive, ( ).

Are all, from #1 through #3 below, correct and natural?
1. whereas if they make the decision against you they might be considered ruthless.
2. whereas if they make the decision against you, they might be considered ruthless.
3. whereas, if they make the decision against you, they might be considered ruthless.

8769
 
    • No comma after whereas. So, no. 2.

    "Two or more main ideas - each of which alone could be a sentence in itself - are separated by a comma when the last main idea begins with a conjunction such as whereas. The comma must precede the coordinate conjunction."
     
    Thank you, Cholandesa and river, for your explanations. They really help.

    Could you help me with one more?
    The following is the continuation of the dialog I cited in the original question.

    J: Or autocratic.
    A: Or autocratic or all those kinds of negative ways to talk about good decision makers or clear decision makers.
    J: But being abrasive, they can be...
    A: Abrasive? I don't think there's any way to make "abrasive" into a positive. People who are abrasive just need more manners.
    J: Ego-centered.
    A: Nothing else.
    J: They may be ego-centered.
    A: Yeah, that could be, too. Yeah, little graciousness, little more politeness, touch of kindness... maybe would help ( ) people like that. But, on the other hand, introverts are often considered rather negative, too, right? Sometimes people who are very quiet, you can't... can't really know what they are going to do or what they are going to say.

    The blank above is where I got stuck. What would you think comes there? I couldn’t judge which, out of the two possible words below, it is, since their sounds are very similar to me.
    1. these
    2. with
     
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