Grammar 10.4
Commas with Adverb Clauses
Directions: Half of the following sentences will need a comma after an adverb clause. The other half of
the sentences will not require a comma with the adverb clause. For each sentence requiring a comma,
write the introductory adverb clause followed by a comma. For the other sentences which do not require
a comma, write correct. Five sentences will be correct.
Example: When I try to speak Spanish I make many mistakes.
When I try to speak Spanish,
1. When I visit my parents in New Mexico I always bring them something from my part of the
country.
2. I will go with you after I finish eating.
3. After Omar competed in the third basketball tournament of the season he was not eager to travel
again.
4. I could not finish in just fifteen minutes because the test included over a hundred questions.
5. Stephanie wants to leave because she smells a strange odor in the room.
6. While we were watching some children playing in the park Luis and I talked about our own
childhoods.
7. Although sharks are normally found in salt water some freshwater sharks exist in Lake
Nicaragua.
8. We need to stop at the next gas station even though we stopped at one just an hour ago.
9. Because I tend to work forty hours each week I have to spend most of my weekends studying.
10. I will be happy to go whenever you are ready to leave.
Directions: For each sentence requiring a comma, write the introductory adverb clause followed by a
comma. For the other sentences which do not require a comma, write correct. One sentence will be
correct.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Example: When I try to speak Spanish I make many mistakes.
When I try to speak Spanish,
Although many people may not be aware of it Pearl Buck was the first American woman to win a
Nobel Prize in literature.
After her parents had spent years as missionaries in China they returned to the United States for a
short time in the early 1890’s, during which time Pearl was born.
When she was just three months old Pearl returned to China with her parents.
She grew up speaking Chinese because her family lived among the Chinese rather than in a
Western compound.
While they were living in China there were many protests against the Western governments that
had controlled China’s economy for years.
Since she had lived among ordinary people Pearl was aware of their daily struggles for bare
survival.
Because she had such a depth of personal experience in China her most famous novel, The Good
Earth, reflected her compassion for the Chinese and their culture. When Pearl Buck died
After she received the Nobel Prize President Nixon said that she had served as a “human bridge
between the civilizations of the East and West.”