Which while comma

English-Ireland top end. In principle, the difference between sentences a and sentences b is as you have described. However, I suggest that the particular meaning you associate with sentences a is very unlikely to be expressed in this form. So the distinction is entirely artificial. Reading either sentence I would assume the writer intended the meaning you associate with sentences b. If the sentence omitted the comma, I would assume a minor error.

Last edited: Apr 17, Could I ask, when I have two activities which are progressing in parallel, am I not obligatory to use continous tense in both cases? I was living in Seoul for two years, during which I was enjoying the city. As you've pointed out, the word as is sometimes used to connect two clauses.

When as is used this way, it generally means while, when, or because, depending on the context, and it is called a subordinating conjunction. The rules about when to use a comma with as are the same as the rules for using commas with other subjordinating conjunctions, including while, when and because.

Here they are:. However, even in a sentence in which the "as clause" comes second, a comma may be necessary to clarify the meaning. Learner's Dictionary mobile search. Learner's Dictionary. Missing commas can even cost a million dollars.

To produce this list, our team of linguists analyzed thousands of sentences and classified every comma in each sentence according to its use. They also found MANY mistakes as well. We used all of this data to build our list and to train the automated comma checker in our free grammar checker. All the information below is built into our grammar checker so that every time you make a mistake you can see why.

Before a coordinating conjunction when it separates two independent clauses. Before "then" when it separates two independent clauses. Before a coordinating conjunction when it separates an independent and dependent clause as an Oxford comma.

After a time phrase that comes before a sentence or independent clause. After a subordinate clause—one that starts with a subordinating conjunction. Before a subordinate clause—in some specific cases. Between two adjectives when they both modify the noun—coordinate adjectives. After an introductory prepositional phrase. Before and after a participle phrase. When a word is omitted intentionally for stylistic reasons.

After an adverbial infinitive phrase. At the end of a quotation, before the closing quotation mark. Before an opening quotation mark. Before "which" in nonrestrictive phrases. To separate out a parenthetical element of a sentence. To separate the day from the month, and the date from the year. It is grammatically correct to use a comma before "and" and other coordinating conjunctions such as "but", "or", "nor" only when it splits two independent clauses i.

There are three ways that "and" can be used in a sentence: - To separate two independent clauses, i. A comma is used before an "and" only if it is used to separate two independent clauses, or if it is used as an Oxford comma to separate the last item in a list of three or more things.

In this case there are two independent clauses as I could write: "He is great. If both the independent clauses are short then some writers may choose to omit the comma before the "and", but you will never be wrong to use it. So if you're not sure then I advise you to include it. If I wrote instead: "He is great and works hard," this is an independent clause and a dependent clause, because "works hard" is not a complete sentence.

A grammar guru, style editor, and writing mentor in one package. Try it for free! In some circumstances, you may use a comma before a conjunction such as "and" when it starts a dependent clause.

This is when you are using the comma as an Oxford comma sometimes known as a serial comma. The conjunction must split the third item of a list. I ate, slept , and dreamed of England. Read more about using an Oxford comma. Correct: He ate dinner, slept all night, and awoke refreshed. The word "then" can function as several parts of speech.

For comma usage, the most important usage is as a conjunction. In theory, "then" is not a coordinating conjunction like "and", "or" , but sometimes it is used as such.

Here, "then" is used as a shortened form of "and then". Some people might strongly disagree with this sort of sentence, but the truth is that it is widely used, even by The New York Times. You can read more in this article. We recommend that where "then" can be replaced by "and then" you use the same rules for comma placement as adding a comma before an "and", i. Adverbs are words that modify verbs or even whole sentences.

They often end in "-ly". Examples include "quickly", "frequently", "slowly". You can see that they "add" some information to a "verb" or the sentence that they are modifying. Some adverbs don't end "-ly", e.

When an adverb modifies an entire sentence or independent clause that follows it then you should use a comma after it. So when "apparently" modifies the whole sentence or clause that follows it then it should be followed by a comma. A time phrase is something that gives details of the time that something happened.

It might be a single word or a complete phrase. Some examples of time phrases are tomorrow , at 2pm , five hundred years ago , and in the meantime. When a time phrase adds information to an independent clause or sentence that follows it then it should be followed by a comma.

If the phrase or sentence comes before the time phrase then it shouldn't have a comma before it. Subordinate clauses are sentence fragments that start with a subordinating conjunction e. They can't form a sentence on their own, but they add information to the main clause, usually some form of condition, e. Subordinate clauses are great because they add variety to your writing, but often, writers are not sure how to use commas with them.

A missed comma after a subordinate clause is one of the most common mistakes that we see. So how do you punctuate a subordinate clause? It turns out there is a pretty simple rule:.

If a subordinate clause comes before the clause it is attached to then it should be followed by a comma. You do not need a comma before a subordinate clause if it follows the main clause except "whereas" and "although". The words "whereas" and "although" are subordinating conjunctions. The general rule for subordinating conjunctions states that you shouldn't use a comma before a subordinating conjunction that comes after the main clause.

However, "whereas" and "although" are examples of "adverbs of concession," along with "though" and "even though". They are used where a dependent clause is contrasting to the main clause a bit like "but". You should use a comma to introduce a dependent clause that starts with an adverb of concession. Slightly more complex is the question of whether you should use a comma before "while. In these circumstances it should have a comma before it.

If you can replace while with as , then it shouldn't have a comma before it. It is just a normal subordinating conjunction.

If you can replace while with whereas then you should use a comma before it because it is being used as an adverb of concession. In most circumstances, "because" is a subordinating conjunction, so when it starts a dependent clause after the main clause, it shoudn't be preceded by a comma. However, there are two exceptions to this rule:. This example is confusing because you're unsure whether it was the fog that caused him to miss the exit, or some unknown factor.

He didn't take the exit because of the fog, but because he wasn't paying attention. Where you mean that the fog didn't cause him to miss the exit it might be best to rewrite it as: The fog didn't cause him to miss the exit. Very confusing!

Perhaps the poster perceives the dependent clause in the example sentence to be non-essential. That is, he or she perceives the pinching of the cheeks as not really modifying or limiting the meaning of the first clause. If this is true, then the poster would be inclined to place a comma before the conjunction. However, the poster would also be inclined to leave it out based on the rule that "when 'while' indicates time and precedes a dependent clause, no comma should precede it.

Therein may lie the confusion. Can we assume that all dependent clauses when following the independent clause and introduced by the conjunction "while" are de facto restrictive, meaning no comma is necessary? Or can we assume that all dependent clauses when following the independent clause and introduced by the conjunction "while" do not take a comma whether the dependent clause is restrictive or not?

I was on this thread looking for a reasoning of using a comma before 'while' for another reason entirely, but I personally would get rid of the word 'while' in your sentence entirely.

Just as someone who writes fiction a lot in their free time and has taken quite a few English and creative writing classes, I'd structure it this way -.

This is a great question because you have two seemingly independent rules that could potentially conflict with one another. I'm not a language expert, but I've been doing a lot of searching around regarding these rules because I had the same concerns as you. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.

Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Comma before while? Ask Question. Asked 8 years, 5 months ago. Active 2 years, 4 months ago.