Clauses and phrases at the start of a sentence are a favorite of mine in tutoring sessions because I can
usually get a student to laugh. I explain these opening words as extra clothing on a sentence. The sentence
starts with a word like when, after, under, or on. I tell the student that the
pattern goes like so:
When
blah blah blah blah blah, ___what___does___what________.
Under
yadda yadda yadda yadda, ___who___does___what________.
The
student usually finds it funny that a tutor says “blah blah blah”--a little humor which helps the student feel
comfortable. The larger point is
that she starts seeing a pattern: A comma should be placed after the long phrase
or clause and before the subject and verb. I tell the student, “You start this
sentence with a subordinate clause or long phrase. Find the end of it and add
a comma.” Next time I can say, “There’s a comma missing in this sentence. Where
might it go?” and if the student needs a hint I’ll add “Blah blah blah” and she says, “OH, yeah!” Students seem to take clauses as a challenge and
enjoy discovering the ends of them. In later paragraphs, they often start
saying, “That’s a long phrase, I think, so does it need a comma?” I celebrate
these moments because it means they can fix their own work.
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