Comma/No Comma - Frequency Adverbs at the Beginning of a Sentence
Moderator: Official Reviewer Representatives
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
Comma/No Comma - Frequency Adverbs at the Beginning of a Sentence
Do frequency adverbs that go at the beginning of sentence need a comma?
Which of these alternatives, if any, is better?
Occasionally, I play football with my friends.
Occasionally I play football with my friends.
punctuation
shareimprove this question
edited Jan 16 '15 at 11:52
As neither variant is confusing, I'd use either, depending on whether I thought a pause sounded natural / desirable.
I often go swimming, and I love fishing, clay-pigeon shooting, and bird-spotting. I often go dancing. Occasionally, I play football with my friends.
but
I do get a reasonable amount of exercise. Occasionally I play football with my friends, but my real love is swimming.
If you want an authority to sanction this,
Chicago Manual of Style 5.69:
"When [transitional adverbs] are used in such a way that there is no real break in continuity and no call for any pause in reading, commas should be omitted.
Transitional adverbs are traditionally even more attached to their following commas than adverbs of frequency.
Note that some frequency adverbs require inversion if fronted:
Seldom / Rarely / Never does the king now venture beyond his palace walls.
- Espie
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 4125
- Joined: 05 May 2018, 06:36
- Favorite Book: Behind the Barbed Wire Fence
- Currently Reading: Noah's Quest
- Bookshelf Size: 118
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-espie.html
- Latest Review: Why Me: Trash Collector, Mental Issues by Nikolay N Bey
1. Question: Is "Occasionally" a transitional word?bookowlie wrote: ↑10 Feb 2019, 10:20 I would like to get some feedback about whether a comma is required for a frequency adverb at the beginning of a sentence. I was able to find some information on a grammar forum that quoted the Chicago Manual of Style. According to the Chicago Manual of Style, the comma can be omitted.
Do frequency adverbs that go at the beginning of sentence need a comma?
Which of these alternatives, if any, is better?
Occasionally, I play football with my friends.
Occasionally I play football with my friends.
punctuation
shareimprove this question
edited Jan 16 '15 at 11:52
As neither variant is confusing, I'd use either, depending on whether I thought a pause sounded natural / desirable.
I often go swimming, and I love fishing, clay-pigeon shooting, and bird-spotting. I often go dancing. Occasionally, I play football with my friends.
but
I do get a reasonable amount of exercise. Occasionally I play football with my friends, but my real love is swimming.
If you want an authority to sanction this,
Chicago Manual of Style 5.69:
"When [transitional adverbs] are used in such a way that there is no real break in continuity and no call for any pause in reading, commas should be omitted.
Transitional adverbs are traditionally even more attached to their following commas than adverbs of frequency.
Note that some frequency adverbs require inversion if fronted:
Seldom / Rarely / Never does the king now venture beyond his palace walls.
Answer: Yes.
References:
a. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transitions_(linguistics) (It shows a "temporal" transition of "frequency".)
b. https://www.smart-words.org/linking-wor ... words.html. (It has the "function of limiting, restricting, and defining time.")
2. Question: Is a comma required after a transitional word beginning a sentence?
Answer: I'm inclined to say yes but with reservations.
Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS) 5.39 requires the comma(s) to set off a transitional adverb from the rest of the sentence per screen snapshot below. None of the examples where non-use had been allowed included transitional adverbs at the start of the sentence so far.
Thus, CMOS still runs in consonance with all the other references I've found stating that commas are required after transitional elements. If there are credible references which would say that it is not required, I'd be interested to know, too.
References:
a. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writ ... ommas.html (This advises the "(u)se (of) commas after introductory a) clauses, b) phrases, or c) words that come before the main clause.")
b. http://www.englishessaywritingtips.com/ ... nctuation/
c. https://www.nova.edu/tutoring-testing/s ... commas.pdf
d. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/style ... er/commas/
e. https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/part ... dverb.html (This states that "there's usually a comma after the conjunctive adverb" but doesn't specify when, why or how it doesn't happen.)
f. https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli ... n_djvu.txt (This is the archived CMOS 13th Edition with screen snapshot below.)
"To err is human; to forgive, divine."-Alexander Pope
"Put GOD first; He'll bless your efforts with success."-Proverbs
- kandscreeley
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 11683
- Joined: 31 Dec 2016, 20:31
- Currently Reading: Believarexic
- Bookshelf Size: 486
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-kandscreeley.html
- Latest Review: The Elf Revelation by Jordan David
—Neil Gaiman
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
My request for feedback, and the info I attached, was regarding frequency adverbs at the beginning of a sentence, such as "Sometimes," "Occasionally."
- Espie
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 4125
- Joined: 05 May 2018, 06:36
- Favorite Book: Behind the Barbed Wire Fence
- Currently Reading: Noah's Quest
- Bookshelf Size: 118
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-espie.html
- Latest Review: Why Me: Trash Collector, Mental Issues by Nikolay N Bey
That was what I was responding to, Bookowlie; thank you for your confirmation. I believe you've quoted information from the following post on another site: https://english.stackexchange.com/quest ... ma-occasio.
In your sample sentence (i.e. "Occasionally, I play football with my friends."), the frequency adverb "Occasionally" is used as a transition word that requires a comma based on the sources I've found so far and cited in my earlier response to your post. Even CMOS says so; none of the CMOS examples shows that comma omission after transitional adverbs at the beginning of sentences are fine; and, the CMOS examples only included those in other parts of the sentence.
The sentence "Occasionally I play football with my friends, but I'm not a physically active person." that you quoted is not a CMOS example; it was merely a response from the non-CMOS site's contributor.
Nonetheless, like you, I'm also interested to know if there are further references for the comma non-usage relevant to your query that support the above non-CMOS site's example(s).
"To err is human; to forgive, divine."-Alexander Pope
"Put GOD first; He'll bless your efforts with success."-Proverbs
- Renu G
- Posts: 753
- Joined: 06 Mar 2019, 01:32
- Currently Reading: Masters and Bastards
- Bookshelf Size: 144
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-renu-g.html
- Latest Review: The Roving Mind: A Modern Approach to Cognitive Enhancement by Anthony Simola
- MrsCatInTheHat
- Posts: 3817
- Joined: 31 May 2016, 11:53
- Favorite Book: Cry the Beloved Country
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 376
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-mrscatinthehat.html
- Latest Review: Marc Marci by Larry G. Goldsmith
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
I've found that the most recent version of Word misses quite a bit. I use it in conjunction with Grammarly. Grammarly isn't perfect either, but together, they do a good job.
- Renu G
- Posts: 753
- Joined: 06 Mar 2019, 01:32
- Currently Reading: Masters and Bastards
- Bookshelf Size: 144
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-renu-g.html
- Latest Review: The Roving Mind: A Modern Approach to Cognitive Enhancement by Anthony Simola
- roxy60sweet
- Posts: 3
- Joined: 27 Feb 2018, 13:00
- Currently Reading: The Mistress
- Bookshelf Size: 14