Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Grammar Girl, Grammar Girl's, QDnow, and Quick and Dirty Tips are all trademarks of Macmillan Holdings, LLC. Only you can decide. susan grammar The comma definitely changes the meaning of the sentence. Consider: "I hate flying, too." vs. "I hate flying too." If you are saying that Jim, Joe and Julie hate flying... and that I, too, hate flying, you would write "I hate flying too." If you are saying that I hate diving, jumping and climbing ... and that I also hate flying, you would write "I hate flying, too." http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=19712#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=19712#Comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:37:08 GMT Thomas grammar I'm SO glad you did this episode. I was just wondering about "too" on Tuesday and wondering if it was something worth having a full episode about. But when you combine it with all the others, it definitely makes sense. Thanks for clearing it up! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15817#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15817#Comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:46:38 GMT SF Susan grammar I wish there were more documentation for the premises of this podcast. While I believe language rules evolve over time, so it's no longer unacceptable to begin a sentence with "however" (see Grammar Girl's thoroughly researched and documented May 29, 2007, podcast) or to use "different than" instead of "different from," I think it's going too far to suggest that commas around "too" and "however" are purely the writer's choice. I was taught that there is no comma before "too" (meaning "also") when it ends a sentence and there are always commas when "too" is mid-sentence. I also believe commas are absolutely required in a sentence like "I, however, prefer ketchup." As I understand it, "however" would be considered nonessential and would have to be set off by commas. If this has changed, is there any documentation for that change in reputable style manuals or grammar references? I tried to do a little research on my own, and I'm seeing some evidence that "too" without commas is accepted (especially in very short sentences), but none at all that "however" can be used without the commas. Regarding John from Loraine's comment, why is there any question about "however" meaning "nevertheless"? "Nevertheless" is listed as a definition of "however" in several dictionaries and specifically mentioned as a synonym for "however" in Strunk & White. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15795#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15795#Comments Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:29:01 GMT Ryan Corcoran grammar What about the word "yet"? I have seen lots of people end sentences with comments like "Have you received my present, yet?" I've always assumed that was incorrect. Is "yet" a matter of opinion, too? http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15776#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15776#Comments Wed, 18 Feb 2009 02:00:12 GMT nicole grammar I hate flying, too!! http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15765#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15765#Comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:36:58 GMT Jerry from NY grammar John from Lorain: I would be more inclined to take your grammar advice if you were not so insensitive in giving it. It seems you relish the opportunity to be hateful to anyone who dare have a point of view different from yours. I agree with *most* of what you've said, but I don't want to because you were so hateful in delivering it. Couldn't you just say, "Okay, here's what I think about these issues," rather than, "Oh my god you are so wrong!" and being so patronizing as to say "I do not really enjoy correcting you..." Because you do it on EVERY installment of GG. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15760#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15760#Comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:52:20 GMT Dan grammar I rather think you do enjoy correcting grammar, however, you have the right to your "opinion" as well. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15759#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15759#Comments Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:30:39 GMT Anonymous grammar In considering the myriad errors John mentions, I suggest Bonnie be banned from offering grammar advice. He is right on each account, which certainly doesn't bode well for Bonnie's book. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15754#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15754#Comments Sun, 15 Feb 2009 22:43:34 GMT Celia grammar I was confused about however as well. I learned that however doesn't start a new sentence but follows a semi-colon. For example: "Squiggly doesn’t care which Popsicle he gets; however, Aardvark really wants a cherry one.” Is this not right? http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15751#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15751#Comments Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:28:16 GMT John from Lorain grammar Oh, dear heavens, Bonnie Trenga! You have made some out-and-out errors, and you have offered some "minority opinions" as though they were rules to be obeyed. Where to begin? You stated: "A comma before the 'too' gives the sentence just a slightly different meaning than the sentence without one." I'm sorry, but a comma before "too" is neither required nor desirable, and it does NOT give a sentence "a slightly different meaning." Worse than this, however, was your use of the erroneous structure, "different ... than." The word, "different," is not used with "than," but rather with "from." One thing differs FROM another; it does not differ THAN another. The word, "than," is used with "more" or "less." Next, you were thrice wrong (or offered a minority opinion as if it were a rule) concerning the word, "however." First, you stated that "'however' is often synonymous with 'nevertheless.'" Second, you stated that it was all right to use the word, "however," at the beginning of a sentence. Third, you offered this as an acceptably written sentence: "I however prefer ketchup." I would say, HOWEVER, that you are thrice wrong. First, I cannot think of any case in which "however" (which means, "but" or "on the other hand") is synonymous with "nevertheless" (which means, "even so"); certainly, the two words are not "often" synonyms, as you stated they were. Second, the majority opinion is that it is in poor style to start a sentence with the word, "However." We are advised to insert between the subject and predicate of a sentence, as I did twice, above. Third, I believe that the majority opinion is in favor of always using commas around the word, "however" (except, as you stated, when it means "to whatever extent"). Bonnie, I must advise you as I recently advised GG: In the future, please prepare what you plan to say, and then submit it to several people of diverse backgrounds (age, sex, occupations, regions, etc.), so that they can correct your errors and offer suggestions. I do not really enjoy correcting you and GG in public. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15745#Comments http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx?commentid=15745#Comments Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:02:21 GMT Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:37:08 GMT http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/comma-with-too.aspx feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Managing Editor) feedback@quickanddirtytips.com (Webmaster) en-us