SJF_Penguin
New Member
American English
I once had an English teacher who instructed students to always place a comma before the FANBOYS conjunctions regardless of whether an independent clause followed the conjunction. I've since realized that is not correct usage, but I often still debate about when to use a comma before but.
The Chicago Manual of Style has a lot of information about commas, but has no information about using them with but to show a contrast. In the sentence you just read, I placed a comma before but, but I'm not sure if it is correct. "Has no information about using them with but to show a contrast" is not an independent clause, so should I have omitted the comma? I'm the type of person who would prefer a solid rule as opposed to having to debate for ten minutes each time I write a sentence like this.
Also, I'm not sure if this is as strong a contrast, but should a comma be used in a sentence like this: "Jeff thought for a moment, but realized quickly that Tom's idea was likely their only hope"?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts and suggestions.
The Chicago Manual of Style has a lot of information about commas, but has no information about using them with but to show a contrast. In the sentence you just read, I placed a comma before but, but I'm not sure if it is correct. "Has no information about using them with but to show a contrast" is not an independent clause, so should I have omitted the comma? I'm the type of person who would prefer a solid rule as opposed to having to debate for ten minutes each time I write a sentence like this.
Also, I'm not sure if this is as strong a contrast, but should a comma be used in a sentence like this: "Jeff thought for a moment, but realized quickly that Tom's idea was likely their only hope"?
Thank you in advance for your thoughts and suggestions.
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