{"id":7703,"date":"2020-08-30T12:25:08","date_gmt":"2020-08-30T12:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/?p=7703"},"modified":"2023-04-10T13:29:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T13:29:47","slug":"comma-after-sometimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-after-sometimes\/","title":{"rendered":"Comma after &#8220;sometimes&#8221;: The Definitive Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>img#mv-trellis-img-1::before{padding-top:150%; }img#mv-trellis-img-1{display:block;}<\/style><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using commas with words is quite a pain in the neck. We think we know what to do, yet at times we don&rsquo;t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This very dilemma happens to be true with the word &ldquo;sometimes,&rdquo; an adverb of frequency that also means &ldquo;occasionally.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This article, however, would like to focus only on when to use a comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; to address the issue better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let&rsquo;s get right into it.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>When does a comma come after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is needed when it begins the sentence and aims to modify the whole sentence rather than just the main verb. Also, a comma is needed after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; midsentence when using it at the end of the first clause in compound and inverted complex sentence structures.<\/strong><br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Using a comma after the adverb &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; is an adverb of frequency like &ldquo;usually,&rdquo; &ldquo;never,&rdquo; and &ldquo;always.&rdquo; It is a flexible word and can be used anywhere in the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes we feel lonely.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We sometimes feel lonely.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We feel lonely sometimes.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; means &ldquo;not all the time&rdquo; or &ldquo;occasionally.&rdquo; It is used to suggest that actions or events take place at an uncertain amount of time intervals.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This adverb can be used pretty much everywhere, but it only entails post-<a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-rules\/\" title=\"comma placement\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">comma placement<\/a> when it is either in the initial or medial sentence position.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Logic would tell us that a comma can never be used to end a sentence, which is also why &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; cannot have a post-comma at the end of the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Below, you&rsquo;ll find out exactly whether or not to place a comma immediately after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; as well as the circumstances that should guide your decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; at the beginning of the sentence<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When writing, there are specific cases in which we would need to put a comma beside a word. These cases are caused by both grammatical and stylistic reasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Using &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; at the beginning of the sentence means that you use it as an introductory adverb of frequency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In these cases, a comma after sometimes is used to create emphasis on the time reference as well as to pace the reading accordingly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When this is done, the writer wants to suggest that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is modifying the whole sentence rather than just the verb.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, letting go is better than holding on.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can even start a question, for instance. When it happens, it creates a delaying effect that can induce imagination as well as assist time reference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, do you feel like life is hard because you can never undo your past?<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When a reader reads the example above, he or she gets prompted to pause and reflect on the question being asked.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By the way, the question of whether an adverb goes before or after the verb in sentence construction also confuses many.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Feel free to debunk this grammar mystery here: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/adverb-before-or-after-a-verb\/\"><b>Should an Adverb Go Before or After the Verb &ndash; The Answer<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; at the beginning of the sentence should also occur when it is followed by a direct address.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In formal writing contexts, a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-before-or-after-names\/\"><b>comma before or after a direct address<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> should always be used. This helps in making the sentence&rsquo;s meaning unambiguous.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that when &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; comes before or after a direct address, a comma should automatically be used, such as when it is the first word of the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, dad, I wish you could hold my hand again.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For clarity&rsquo;s sake, a direct address is a name that we use to directly refer to a message receiver. It can also be a name title like &ldquo;ma&rsquo;am&rdquo; or a term of endearment like &ldquo;sweetie.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another case that we would need a comma after sometimes at the beginning of the sentence is when it is followed by a parenthetical piece of information.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Parentheticals are ideas that are added to enhance the meaning of sentences rather than make them grammatically complete.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, removing a parenthetical idea from the original sentence is possible, leaving a grammatically complete thought afterward.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes, whether we like it or not, we cannot easily take control of our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br>\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The parenthetical expression in the sentence above is &ldquo;whether we like it or not,&rdquo; which comes after the introductory adverb &ldquo;sometimes.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we remove this phrase, we are still left with a grammatically-correct construction as follows: Sometimes, you cannot easily take control of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; should stay, though, because it is needed to set off the introductory element.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; in the middle of the sentence<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; may also appear in the middle of the sentence. Whenever this happens, there is a need to use two commas beside it &ndash; one before and one after.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sentence structure also affects our comma decisions. This very concept is something we should have a good grasp on to be able to decide correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are three main types of sentences according to structure, namely, the simple, the compound, and the complex types.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A simple sentence is made up of one independent clause &ndash; something that bears at least one subject and one predicate in its basic form.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A compound sentence is made up of two independent clauses. These clauses are linked with a coordinating conjunction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/coordinating-conjunctions\/\" title=\"Coordinating conjunctions\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">Coordinating conjunctions<\/a> are those that we need to build compound sentences. They go by the acronym &ldquo;FANBOYS&rdquo; which stands for &ldquo;for,&rdquo; &ldquo;and,&rdquo; &ldquo;nor,&rdquo; &ldquo;but,&rdquo; &ldquo;or,&rdquo; &ldquo;yet,&rdquo; and &ldquo;so.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/comma-usage-fanboys\/\"><b>Comma usage with FANBOYS<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is not really that hard to master because the rule of thumb is to always use one when you need to tie up two clauses together.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; comes at the end of the first clause in the middle of the sentence, a comma should be used after it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This comma should also come before the coordinating conjunction, such as &ldquo;and,&rdquo; &ldquo;but&rdquo; or &ldquo;or.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bailey wants me to rub his belly sometimes, and he says &ldquo;thanks&rdquo; by wagging his tail fast.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The comma before &ldquo;and&rdquo; in the example above is always necessary even if &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; isn&rsquo;t the last word of the first clause.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is because of how the sentence is constructed. For more information about sentence structures, it would be best to check out our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/syntax\/\"><b>beginner&rsquo;s guide to syntax<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from a previous post.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, a complex sentence is made up of two clauses too, but one of them is dependent on the other to make sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other words, one independent clause and one dependent clause are necessary to build this type of sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To build complex sentences, we would need <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/subordinating-conjunctions\/\" title=\"subordinating conjunctions\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\">subordinating conjunctions<\/a> such as &ldquo;because,&rdquo; &ldquo;unless,&rdquo; &ldquo;although,&rdquo; and &ldquo;since.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In a regular complex sentence structure, meaning the one in which the independent clause comes before the dependent one, no comma should be used at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, in an inverted complex sentence structure, a comma becomes necessary at the end of the first clause, which is now the dependent one.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This type of sentence structure is easy to spot because it begins with the conjunction you need to build the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, if and when &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; happens to be the last word of the frontal dependent clause, then a comma after it becomes necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here&rsquo;s how that works:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\">\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since you can be a bit aloof sometimes, you should consider talking more to people.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As you can see, the dependent clause comes before the independent clause in the example, making it a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.csuchico.edu\/slc\/_assets\/documents\/writing-center-handouts\/simple-compound-and-complex-sentences.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>complex sentence<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> type.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; happens to be the last word of the frontal clause that is headed by the conjunction &ldquo;since.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hence, the comma at the end of the first clause, which also happens to end with &ldquo;sometimes,&rdquo; is necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"grow-exclusive-content-widget-4b624cb8-3e7f-4bbb-825c-0e35d5fe031f grow-allow-content-ads\"><a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1zhrov1ajwyTcled7Sks8Hwvi_19OYMLt\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-23375 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png 1000w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-640x960.png 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-720x1080.png 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-800x1200.png 800w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-150x225.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png\"><\/noscript><img loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-23375 size-full eager-load\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%201000%201500'%3E%3Crect%20width='1000'%20height='1500'%20style='fill:%23e3e3e3'\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"1500\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png\" id=\"mv-trellis-img-1\" data-src=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet.png 1000w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-640x960.png 640w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-720x1080.png 720w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-800x1200.png 800w, https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Comma-after-sometimes-Worksheet-150x225.png 150w\" data-svg=\"1\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>No comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; when&hellip;<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that we&rsquo;ve learned when to use a comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; and the conditions that we need to consider, let us also look into the cases in which no comma should be used at all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the next subsections, you&rsquo;ll also find out when to avoid a comma when &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; appears at the beginning and in the middle of the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>We can also avoid using a comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; at the beginning of the sentence when we don&rsquo;t want to emphasize the time reference.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Without the comma, the writer also wants to imply that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is modifying the main verb rather than the whole sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This also means that you can freely move &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; around the sentence as you wish.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes we win; sometimes we learn.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the example sentences above, we can understand that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; aims to modify the verbs &ldquo;win&rdquo; and &ldquo;learn.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And, we can also observe that starting the sentence off with &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; also creates a more dramatic effect than placing it either in the middle or end of the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>When &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; comes at the beginning of the sentence but is part of a longer phrase, no comma should also come after it.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This also means that you don&rsquo;t want &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; to interrupt the flow of your sentence and treat it as part of the introductory element instead.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes in life, you&rsquo;ll have to accept the fact that the right love may come at the wrong time.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<br>\n<strong>When we aim to use &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; as a regular adverb of frequency in the middle of the sentence to modify a verb, no comma should also be used.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; acts as an essential element that completes the meaning of the sentence rather than just an accessory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\">I sometimes feel like dancing to Latin music.<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the example above, &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; modifies &ldquo;feel&rdquo; and describes how often the subject wants to perform the given action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Take note, however, that while sometimes can be placed before the verb, it cannot come after it, and therefore, the following sentence would be incorrect:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Example<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-box-grey\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(incorrect) I feel sometimes like dancing to Latin music.<\/span><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Frequently Asked Questions on &ldquo;Comma After &lsquo;Sometimes&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Is there a comma after the word &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is necessary when it is used as an introductory adverb of frequency. A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is also required when it appears right before the conjunction in a compound sentence as well as at the end of the frontal dependent clause in an inverted complex sentence.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Can you start a sentence with &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Starting a sentence with &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; and other adverbs of frequency like &ldquo;usually,&rdquo; &ldquo;occasionally,&rdquo; and &ldquo;normally&rdquo; is always possible. This means that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is being used as an introductory expression, and it also requires a comma afterward.<\/span><br>\n&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><b>Is &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; an adverb?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; is an adverb of frequency like &ldquo;never,&rdquo; &ldquo;usually,&rdquo; &ldquo;seldom,&rdquo; &ldquo;rarely,&rdquo; and &ldquo;often.&rdquo; These adverbs are used to suggest &ldquo;how often&rdquo; an action or event happens. &ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; is quite a flexible adverb because it can go in the initial, middle, or final position in a sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, using a comma after certain words like &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; shouldn&rsquo;t feel like having ants in your pants anymore.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, there have been several rules listed in this post, but as long as you paid enough attention to details, you&rsquo;re all good to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now, don&rsquo;t be afraid to write your next email or essay. Most of all, you should not let punctuation concerns block your way.<\/span><br>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">\n{\n  \"@context\": \"https:\/\/schema.org\",\n  \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n  \"mainEntity\": [\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Is there a comma after the word &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is necessary when it is used as an introductory adverb of frequency. A comma after &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is also required when it appears right before the conjunction in a compound sentence as well as at the end of the frontal dependent clause in an inverted complex sentence.\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Can you start a sentence with &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo;?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"Starting a sentence with &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; and other adverbs of frequency like &ldquo;usually,&rdquo; &ldquo;occasionally,&rdquo; and &ldquo;normally&rdquo; is always possible. This means that &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; is being used as an introductory expression, and it also requires a comma afterward.\"\n      }\n    },\n    {\n      \"@type\": \"Question\",\n      \"name\": \"Is &ldquo;sometimes&rdquo; an adverb?\",\n      \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n        \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n        \"text\": \"&ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; is an adverb of frequency like &ldquo;never,&rdquo; &ldquo;usually,&rdquo; &ldquo;seldom,&rdquo; &ldquo;rarely,&rdquo; and &ldquo;often.&rdquo; These adverbs are used to suggest &ldquo;how often&rdquo; an action or event happens. &ldquo;Sometimes&rdquo; is quite a flexible adverb because it can go in the initial, middle, or final position in a sentence.\"\n      }\n    }\n  ]\n}\n<\/script><br>\n<!--FAQPage Code Generated by https:\/\/saijogeorge.com\/json-ld-schema-generator\/faq\/--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Using commas with words is quite a pain in the neck. We think we know what to do, yet at times we don&rsquo;t. This very dilemma happens to be true with the word &ldquo;sometimes,&rdquo; an adverb of frequency that also means &ldquo;occasionally.&rdquo; This article, however, would like to focus only on when to use a &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7718,"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],"class_list":["post-7703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english","category-comma-rules","category-grammar","tag-comma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7703","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=7703"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7703\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24556,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7703\/revisions\/24556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linguaholic.com\/linguablog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}