Punctuation

A collection of 138 posts

When to Add a Comma After 'Now'

Do not use a comma after "now" at the start of a sentence to describe when something happens.

Commas When Using 'Instead' or 'Instead of'

At the beginning of a sentence, use a comma after the conjunctive adverb "instead" to indicate that it modifies the whole sentence that follows.

Commas With 'Afterward', 'Then', 'Later', and 'Subsequently'

At the beginning of a sentence, we add a comma after the conjunctive adverbs "afterward", "then", "and then", "subsequently", "after that", or "later" to indicate that it modifies the complete sentence that follows.

Commas With 'In particular' and 'Particularly'

Use a comma after "in particular" or "particularly" at the beginning of a sentence to modify (describe) a clause or a sentence. When modifying a single word, do not use a comma to separate "in particular" or "particularly" from the word it describes.

Commas Before and After 'In other words'

Add a comma after "in other words" to introduce a new sentence that repeats what has been said in a different way. "In other words" should be surrounded by commas in the middle of a sentence.

Commas Before and After 'Likewise' and 'Similarly'

Add a comma after "similarly" or "likewise" at the start of a sentence. Do not use commas, however, when using "similarly" or "likewise" to modify a single word (adjective, verb, or adverb) in the middle of a sentence.