{"id":12869,"date":"2021-05-15T20:32:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T20:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=12869"},"modified":"2023-03-23T21:23:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T21:23:37","slug":"comma-after-usually-a-comprehensive-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-after-usually-a-comprehensive-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Comma after “usually” \u2014 A Comprehensive Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"
Some words or phrases have just one function in a sentence, and it is easy to say that they should almost always or almost never be followed by a comma.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
However, there are also words that may act as more than one part of speech or might be able to take up different positions in the sentence.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
Comma rules<\/a><\/strong> about those words might vary depending on what they are doing.<\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n
The word “usually” is always an adverb, but it can be placed in several different parts of the sentence. Whether or not it needs to be followed by a comma depends on where in the sentence it appears.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you need a comma after “usually”?<\/h2>\n
\n

You need a comma after “usually” when it is the introductory word in a sentence or independent clause. When it is placed elsewhere in a sentence, it should not be followed by a comma.<\/strong>
\n <\/p>\n

Comma usage with “usually” when it used as an introductory word<\/h2>\n

Most of the time, an introductory word or phrase at the beginning of a sentence or independent clause should be followed by a comma. This is the case with “usually.”<\/p>\n

Here it is at the beginning of a sentence:<\/p>\n

Usually, I wash the dishes, and he dries them.<\/i><\/p>\n

In the examples below, “usually” comes in the middle of the sentence.<\/p>\n

Notice that the first example is actually two sentences, or independent clauses, joined by a semicolon.<\/p>\n

In the second example, the two sentences are joined by the conjunction “but”:<\/p>\n

Wesley didn’t see her in the park; usually, she walked her dogs there.<\/i><\/p>\n

I can’t remember what time Molly gets off work, but usually, she comes in here around seven or eight.<\/i><\/p>\n

Some rules or style guides say that if the introductory phrase is short or there is just a single introductory word, you don’t have to put a comma after it.<\/p>\n

It is easiest to be consistent and put a comma after “usually” at the beginning of a sentence or independent clause as you would with any other introductory word or phrase unless you are writing for a teacher or someone else who has asked you not to use it.<\/p>\n

However<\/a><\/strong>, knowing this can be optional explains why you will sometimes see writers who do not do it or style guides that advise against it.
\n <\/p>\n

Comma placement with “usually” at the end of a dependent clause<\/h2>\n

There is one other type of sentence where “usually” is at the beginning of an independent clause. It is a little bit different from the examples above.<\/p>\n

Remember that “independent clause” is just another word for a complete sentence, but a sentence can have additional parts besides just the independent clause.<\/p>\n

In this type of sentence, “usually” is also the last word of a dependent clause.<\/p>\n

Here are two examples:<\/p>\n

She said that usually, no one was out on the lake this late at night.<\/i><\/p>\n

My neighbors understand that usually, I work nights and sleep all day.<\/i><\/p>\n

As you can see, in these sentences, “usually” is still at the beginning of an independent clause.<\/p>\n

You might also think of these as sentences that have “that” clauses. The word “that<\/a><\/strong>” acts as a conjunction to link the two clauses, and when “usually” comes after it, it needs to be followed by a comma.
\n <\/p>\n

Punctuation with “usually” placed near the verb<\/h2>\n

“Usually” often comes between the subject and verb in the sentence. When this happens, it should not have a comma after it:<\/p>\n

We usually eat dinner before 8 p.m.<\/i><\/p>\n

The dogs usually run and hide from the cats.<\/i><\/p>\n

“Usually” can also come between multiple verbs, and it also should not be followed by a comma:<\/p>\n

The school has usually tried to give students extra tutoring instead of failing grades.<\/i><\/p>\n

My sisters will usually call before they come over.<\/i><\/p>\n

They could usually see where the workmen had finished for the day.<\/i><\/p>\n

Don’t be confused by sentences where the subject is longer and the word “usually” appears to come later in the sentence.<\/p>\n

Note that in the example<\/a><\/strong> below, the subject is “films that aren’t very good” and the main verb is “don’t win.”<\/p>\n

“Usually” is still right there in between the subject and main verb, so it is not set apart with a comma:<\/p>\n

Films that aren’t very good usually don’t win awards.<\/i>
\n <\/p>\n

Commas with “usually” as part of an adverbial phrase or clause<\/h2>\n

An adverbial phrase or clause is a group of words that function like an adverb.<\/p>\n

When “usually” is the first word of an adverbial phrase or clause, it is not followed by a comma.<\/p>\n

Here is an example<\/a><\/strong> of “usually” as the first word of an adverbial clause:<\/p>\n

The dog goes to bed, usually after she’s eaten her dinner.<\/i><\/p>\n

And here is an example of “usually” as the first word of an adverbial phrase. The only difference between the two is that an adverbial clause has a subject and a verb and an adverbial phrase doesn’t:<\/p>\n

The dog goes to bed, usually after dinner.<\/i><\/p>\n

What if you moved that phrase or clause to the beginning of a sentence?<\/p>\n

In those cases, the rule about “usually” as an introductory word would mean that it needs to be followed by a comma:<\/p>\n

Usually, after she’s eaten her dinner, the dog goes to bed.<\/i><\/p>\n

Usually, after dinner, the dog goes to bed.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some words or phrases have just one function in a sentence, and it is easy to say that they should almost always or almost never be followed by a comma.   However, there are also words that may act as more than one part of speech or might be able to take up different positions …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12875,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"disable-in-feed":false,"article-schema-type":"Article","disable-critical-css":false,"_convertkit_action_broadcast_export":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,1119,1116],"tags":[80,586],"class_list":["post-12869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-comma-rules","category-grammar","tag-comma","tag-comma-after-usually"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12869"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12869\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23550,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12869\/revisions\/23550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}