Learn English – Comma before “as a token of the gratitude?”

commaspunctuation

I am writing a little note to a person who returned my lost wallet. Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

Please accept the cash enclosed herein, as a token of my gratitude.

What is confusing me is whether there should be a comma before the phrase "as a token of my gratitude"

My guess is that as the only cash enclosed is the cash offered as a gift, the information is non crucial, making the phrase non-restrictive clause, and therefore comma would be required.

Best Answer

No! You can not put a comma before "as a token of my gratitude."

My guess is that as the only cash enclosed is the cash offered as a gift, the information is non crucial, making the phrase non-restrictive clause, and therefore comma would be required.

The phrase is a restrictive clause even in your context. "as a token of my gratitude" depends on "Please accept the cash enclosed herein." You cannot offset the first sentence by a comma.

What makes it dependent? The word "as" makes it dependent. It is used as an adverb, not conjunction.

You can say it like the following ways:

  • Please accept the cash enclosed herein, a token of my gratitude.
  • Please accept the cash enclosed herein—a token of my gratitude.
  • 1As a token of my gratitude, please accept the cash enclosed herein.

1. When you start or begin a question with a dependent clause, you put a comma after it.

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