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Commas before conjunctions
A bit of a technical question: do you place commas before conjunctions or not?
I was always taught at school not to, but - after reading loads of books on the subject - it seems that it is acceptable. When and where is it acceptable?
It would be two main clauses joined together to create a compound sentence, but it would be two separate ideas. Is the sentence I have just typed correct, or should it be without the comma?
Comments
Some writers have a tendency to use too many. Yes, the sentence needs them, but reading pages of text, with enforced pauses, becomes extremely tedious. Many a good plot has been killed by a plague of commas.
I spent all afternoon taking out a comma and all afternoon putting it back.
It's also interesting that some responders on the thread have removed the commas and then put them back in. So have I!
I think it is a question of personal preference.
Regards,
Cuttle