punctuation - Should there always be a comma after "therefore","However" etc.?


Should you always type a comma after "therefore","however" etc. in the beginning of a sentence? Also, when these (and similar) words are used in the middle of a sentence, should there be a comma or semi-colon before and after the word?



Therefore, he must be killed!


That man is revolting, however, some find him attractive.



Sorry for the lousy examples. I couldn't think of any better.



Answer



Not really. There are many cases for which a comma is unnecessary.



He is strong, and therefore a likely candidate.


However strong he is, he is not a likely candidate.



And so on.


As for subordinate clauses, where the words function as subordinating conjunctions, the comma isn't always necessary either.



He is strong, therefore he must be a likely candidate.



Still, I would use one with however in that case:



He is strong; however, I don't think he's a likely candidate.



Note the semicolon. A period would work there as well. This is because "however" doesn't really work as a subordinating conjunction. Therefore isn't usually classed as such either, but I believe it can function as one just fine.


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