comma with 'if any' / before 'as well' [adverb]: few, if any, will

C

ctofil

New Member
English, United States
Just wanted to make sure the use of commas correct in this sentence. Any suggestions?

"While many students applying to your program are accomplished scholars of Spanish literature, few, if any, will have been successful English majors as well."

Thanks!

 
    • ctofil said:
    Just wanted to make sure the use of commas correct in this sentence. Any suggestions?

    "While many students applying to your program are accomplished scholars of Spanish literature, few, if any, will have been successful English majors, as well."

    Thanks!
    Click to expand...


    Everything looks fine to me, except I'd add that comma at the end, but it wouldn't surprise me if others totally disagreed with me.

    If the sentence had read:
    ...will have been English majors, too... (by the way, would "majors" be capitalized?)

    I would always use that comma...well, too! LOL

    There is much debate on that comma at the end of sentences, setting off non-essential words. By non-essential, I mean words that you can take out of a sentence and not have it lose any meaning whatsoever. I was always taught to use those commas. The nuns were adamant about those commas. You didn't mess around with those nuns.

    Lately, there's been a shift to get rid of them:

    I love you too.
    I don't know if I'd agree with that assessment though.
    Many educated people agree with me as well.

    People leave them out all the time. I want to scream when they do!

    I think it has a lot to do with the print media: newspapers, magazines, etc. It saves space when you leave out the commas.

    I am not giving up my commas.

    You might want to find out what your teacher wants and do it that way, though. I mean...that way though.


    AngelEyes
     
    Looks fine to me (,) too!

    People leave them out all the time. I want to scream when they do!
    Click to expand...

    Unlike Angeleyes, I generally don't put commas at the end of sentences. This is partly because I don't feel the need to breathe or pause there if reading aloud, and also because I am so often accused of using so many commas that the sentence lacks cohesion. I choose my commas by reading aloud and not by rules, but if there are rules that you know then go ahead and stick to them!

    And by the way, I did intend to use that Oxford comma there. I like them. :)
     
    Oh sorry- it's a comma before the word "and". At school (in England) they teach us never ever to put a comma before "and". I hated that because sometimes it looks like you just have to, so I went ahead and broke the rule. Then I read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" and discovered they actually have a name! So now I have no shame in using them!
     
    Well, what do you know? How interesting.

    The coordinating conjunctions:
    and, or, but, so usually require a comma before them over here.

    You can also leave them out completely in a short sentence.

    By the way, this:
    "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"
    I'd put a comma after the word shoots. I think that's called a "serial comma."

    I also know that Brits use their quotation marks completely opposite of how Americans do. Wouldn't you put that quotation mark behind the word "comma" above, and the period outside it?

    But that's another thread.:)

    Thanks for the lesson.


    AngelEyes
     
    For a full discussion, and more links, on the subject of punctuation and quotations, see punctuating with quotation marks

    I would not include a comma before as well or too; I would before though, though.

    The original sentence looks fine to me, as regards punctuation. I might prefer to end the sentence a little differently, incidentally avoiding the question of comma or not before as well:
    ... will also have been successful English majors."
     
    bassoonery said:
    Oh sorry- it's a comma before the word "and". At school (in England) they teach us never ever to put a comma before "and". I hated that because sometimes it looks like you just have to, so I went ahead and broke the rule. Then I read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" and discovered they actually have a name! So now I have no shame in using them!
    Click to expand...

    And it's a silly rule, isn't it? There's a clear difference in reading between 'bassoonery, and winklepicker' and 'bassoonery and winklepicker'. Use them with glee, I say!
     
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