Punctuating Subordinating Conjunctions with Commas

An independent clause is a group of words with a subject and verb that can stand
alone as a sentence:
J ean goes to class.
Adding a subordinating conjunction will automatically make the clause dependent:
When J ean goes to class
After J ean goes to class
Because J ean goes to class
If the dependent clause is placed at the beginning of a sentence, the dependent clause
must be separated from the independent clause by a comma. The dependent clause
becomes an introductory element (Comma Number 4):
After Jean goes to class, she goes to the library.
If the dependent clause is placed at the end of the sentence after the independent
clause, no comma is necessary:
J ean goes to the library after she goes to class.
If the dependent clause is inserted into the middle of the sentence, the clause acts as
a parenthetical element and should havecommas on both sides
(Comma Number 9f):
On Monday, after she goes to class, J ean goes to the library.
The CMSU Writing Center
Central Missouri State University, Humphreys 116
Punctuating Subordinating Conjunctions with Commas, page 74