Learn English – “, as well” at the end of a sentence

commasgrammargrammaticality

I know that this has been answered awhile ago, but no one had put any evidence towards one school of thought or another. Here is the sentence:

Someone will be calling you to discuss your recent purchase. They will be talking to you about your next purchase, as well.

In this case, should we use , as well or simply about your next purchase as well.?

I would prefer an answer with some evidence to back it up, as I'm not biased towards one method or the other.

Best Answer

The exams are nearly here. Our teacher has covered most of the parts of the syllabus in great detail. But there are some topics he hasn't covered, as well.

and

The exams are nearly here. Our teacher has covered most of the parts of the syllabus in great detail. But there are some topics he hasn't covered as well.

are both acceptable, and the comma is required to show the 'too' sense in the first example, but needs omitting in the second to show the 'hasn't covered them in the same great detail' sense in the second.

With cases like the example in the question, where there is no need to disambiguate, the comma assumes a different role. It is a free choice to include it or not (though there is a tendency towards minimalism). It is now used solely to mark an optional pause in speech. I'd usually include it as that's the way I'd normally read out the sentence.

The only supporting evidence I've found is the final contributor on this Reddit thread.

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