English Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I've got a couple questions:
Should I always put comma between condition and consequence parts, like in the following sentence:
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Should I always put comma in the sentences similar to the following (I may be wrong, but I think it's called antithesis):
It rains, but children continue to play football.
Should I always put comma between condition and consequence parts, like in the following sentence?
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
You should. In the example you provided, "If you have any questions" is a dependent clause, and as such, it must be followed by a comma since it precedes the independent clause.
Should I always put comma in the sentences similar to the following (I may be wrong, but I think it's called antithesis)?
It rains, but children continue to play football.
Yes, you should. In the example you gave, "children continue to play football" is an independent clause. Whenever "but" (or any other conjunction) is used to join two independent clauses, it should be preceded by a comma.
It rains and but children continue to play football. are independent clauses? There are two connected depended and independed clauses appropriately delimited by a comma: Jim studied in the Sweet Shop for his chemistry quiz, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise.
It rains is an independent clause. children continue to play football is an independent clause. but children continue to play football is a dependent clause because of the included but. In the same way, it was hard to concentrate because of the noise is independent. However, but it was hard to concentrate because of the noise is a dependent clause. Rightly, an independent clause and a dependent clause should be delimited by a comma, but this is equivalent to two independent clauses connected with a conjunction preceded by a comma.
(Due to insistence)
If you speak out the first sentence, you'd pause in between "questions" and "don't", so a comma is definitely warranted. (If you have any questions, [pause] please don't hesitate to ask.)
For the second sentence, "It's raining, but..." sounds better to my ears at least, but your construction is not ungrammatical. Yes, the comma ought to be there, too.
It's always raining in London.(present progressive) may be used to emphasize one's irritation about a phenomenon which happens often.