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? asked in Education & ReferenceHomework Help · 8 years ago

Grammer question ? Comma help :)?

I understand that a comma is needed between an independendent and dependent clause with a corrdinating conjungtion. Are commas used between an independent and dependent clause ? How about two depdendent clauses ?

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  • Anonymous
    8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    It depends on the circumstances whether to use them in between ind. and dep. clauses with no conjunction. If the dependent clause comes before the independent clause, always use a comma. Example: "Because I was angry at Sarah, I didn't speak to her all day." If the independent clause is first, it depends.

    When the ind. clause is first:

    If there is a coordinating conjunction, and the dep. clause after that would form a whole sentence on its own, use a comma. Example: "Timmy was wasting time watching TV, while I was getting packed up."

    If there is a coordinating conjunction but the dep. clause doesn't form a full sentence, don't use a comma. Example: "I usually listen to music while doing homework."

    If there is no coordinating conjunction and the dep. clause doesn't form a full sentence, use a comma: "I slipped on the ice, crashing to the ground." The implied conjunction could be "while" or "before."

    There aren't any circumstances where there would be no conjunction and both clauses could form full sentences. In that case, a semicolon would be used, or they would just be split into two sentences.

    As for dependent clauses, what do you mean? Two dependent clauses alone can't form a full sentence. If you mean between two dependent clauses in a sentence with an independent clause, again, if the clause has a conjunction and could form a full sentence on its own, use a comma. If it couldn't form a full sentence and doesn't have a conjunction, use a comma. If it doens't have a conjunction and can form a full sentence, it's an independent clause. If it does have a conjunction and cannot form a full sentence, don't use a comma. This goes for whether it is after the ind. clause or another dep. clause. If it comes at the beginning of the sentence, always use a comma no matter what.

    There might be some exceptions to these rules, but as far as I know, this is it. I hope I helped!

    Source(s): I'm a grammar mega-nerd. :P
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