0

Consider the following sentence:

In 2013 Tallinn, Estonia, instituted fare-free rides for city residents (becoming the largest city in the world to do so), but car use in Tallinn has only slightly declined: as a 2014 study by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden found that car traffic in Tallinn was down less than 3% since the policy was enacted.

My question is regarding the colon between the words "declined" and "as". Would it be appropriate to put a comma in place of the colon? Take, for example, the following sentence:

I received a cake and many gifts, as it has been my 21st birthday.

Why would it be inappropriate to put a comma instead of colon in the first sentence? If it is allowed, why would a colon be preferred over the comma?

Improve this question
5
  • I think you might get better answers if you edit out your last example. The grammar isn't correct, but if you correct it -- I received a cake and many gifts as it was my birthday -- it doens't fit your question any longer.
    – S Conroy
    Commented Aug 6, 2018 at 23:46
  • Basically, you've got to be anal-retentive to use a colon.
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 1:39
  • Thanks for demeaning my attention to detail and my regard for syntax. You've made my day a little worse.
    – Hack Saw
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 22:05
  • The short answer is “… declined: as…” should prolly have used a full stop, rather than either a colon or a comma, though that would mean other changes. Don’t you think phrases like should be simplified so their meaning doesn’t get in the way of their structure?
    – Robbie Goodwin
    Commented Aug 20, 2018 at 0:01
  • It definitely looks like an error: they've started to write an "as a study found..." construction, but forgotten halfway through what they were doing and gone into "a study found that..."
    – Stuart F
    Commented Jun 15, 2021 at 12:06

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
1

LeahHG answered the same question correctly on Reddit 2 years ago

The answer to the first one is declined: a 2014 study... In other words, the "as" comes out too, as it is underlined. [...] Remember that the entire underlined section comes out.

Improve this answer
0

Were I editing the first sentence, it's the word 'as' which would go.

Changing the colon to a comma makes the sentence imply that the study was somehow the cause of the decline it found. It's a very muddy construction.

With the colon, but without the 'as', we get two independent statements linked by the colon indicating the second as amplification of the first.

Improve this answer
3
  • Ah, I see. So just wondering, if 'as' was removed, a semicolon would work as well?
    – Jacob Foster
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 4:57
  • Yeah, it probably could. There is controversy around semicolons due to their in-between nature. In fact, the Oatmeal made a poster about this where he says you ought not use one before a conjunction, but the Chicago Manual of Style says it's acceptable.
    – Hack Saw
    Commented Aug 7, 2018 at 22:18
  • I agree that the 'as' should go, and I would replace the colon with a full stop as well. However I believe that the 'as' is used incorrectly because it implies that the study caused the persistence in car use rather than merely discovered and reported it.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Sep 23, 2019 at 8:02
0

Not only should there not be a colon, but even using a comma is unnecessary. Subordinate clauses that follow a main clause don't require commas.

A subordinate clause can go at the beginning of a sentence or later in a sentence. The only difference is that if it goes at the beginning, you need a comma after the subordinate clause, and if goes later, you don’t need a comma.

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/what-is-a-subordinate-clause

Your sentence has two other problems, though:

1) The beginning of your sentence should be written as follows:

"In 2013, Tallinn, Estonia instituted fare-free..."

There should be a comma after the introductory phrase "in 2013," but there should be no comma after "Estonia."

2) It seems that you're using "as" to mean "because," but that study isn't why car use in Talinn has only slightly declined. I think what you're trying to say is:

"...according to a 2014 study by KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, which found that car traffic in Tallinn was down less than 3%."

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .