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Prepositional introductory phrase

Hi

If you had a sentence like this:

In the first half, we played really well.

( a rugby match perhaps)

Is it wrong to use the comma after in the first half?

Thanks.

Re: Prepositional introductory phrase

No, it's not wrong; it's optional. There is a distinction to be found between 'light' and 'heavy' punctuation styles. The distinction has to with optional punctuation, especially commas: a light style puts in relatively fewer commas (or other marks) in those places where they are optional rather than obligatory. Compare these two sentences:

"If it's fine they like to have a picnic lunch in the park on Sundays". (light)
"If it's fine, they like to have a picnic lunch in the park on Sundays". (heavy)

The comma in that example is optional because its omission causes no ambiguity. The 'light' style is likely to omit it, while the 'heavy' style would include it.

In general, punctuation marks serve to avoid ambiguity; they do this by marking boundaries such as those between ideas, lists, time-periods, supplementary information, subordinate and coordinate clauses, adjuncts and so on. In your example there's no real boundary to separate - the content of the PP is an integral part of overall message rather then just some piece of non-essential supplementary information. In other words, it's not necessary.

Here are two examples where a comma is useful:

(1) "Fortunately for us, we arrived just in time".

(2) "Some people, however, complained about the air-conditioning".

In (1) the comma marks off a supplementary evaluative adjunct. It is not essential information; rather it just gives the writer's opinion of the event and as such is best set off with a comma.

In (2) the commas mark both the left and right boundaries of a constituent that is set apart from the main part of the sentence, indicating that it is in some sense less central to the message.


I hope that helps a little.

PaulM