Commas After Introductory Clause

By Kevin Suffredini and David Sui

What Are Introductory Clauses?

• Introductory clauses are dependent clauses that provide background information for the main part of the sentence.
• Introductory always start with introductory words such as (because, if, while, during, when, etc.)
• For example…

If they had wanted to do well

While I was eating

Because her alarm clock was broken

When the snow stops falling

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How Do You Know Where To Put Commas?

• When an introductory clause is very short (less than four words), the comma is usually optional. But if the clause is longer than four words, use a comma.

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Can someone give us an example?

Why we use a Comma

We use a comma after the introductory clause because we use the comma to connect the two clauses. The clauses are not sentences by themselves but with the comma they are a complete sentence.

Wrong- After finishing the presentation he sat down.

Correct- After finishing the presentation, he sat down.

What is a SWABI

SWABI’s are normally put at the beginning of the introductory clause.

S-Since

W-When

A-Although, After, As Long As

B-Because

I-If, In But there could also be other ones such as since, when, although, because, if, after, although, as long as, before, even if, even though, if in, once, since, so that, though, unless, until, whenever, wherever, while.

Swabi’s are used at the beginning of the the phrases such as: Since the game finished

PlAce the Commas-Practice

If they had wanted to do well they would have studied

While I was eating I was watching the news

Because her alarm clock was broken, she was late to school

When the snow stops falling I will go outside

During summer I have a job

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Identify the Swabi

Because I had received a poor grade on the math test, I did not go home.

After completing the homework assignment, I went and played basketball.

Since graduation is in a week, I need to thank my teachers.

Although we had lost the game, our coach still bought us pizza.

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QUESTIONS?