Since the prepositional phrase at the beginning of this sentence is more than five words, does it need this comma? Or can the comma be omitted?
In “I’m Off to See Her,” I attempt to bring up the idea of what it means to be a good reader.
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Nathaniel is protesting
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are we talking U.S. or British English here? – Code Jockey Dec 02 '15 at 17:43
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Possible duplicate of When should end punctuation go inside quotes? But if you adopt the (more common?) convention of setting off titles in italics rather than quotes, you won't need to choose between the standard US/UK conventions on comma placement. – FumbleFingers Dec 02 '15 at 17:54
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1This is US English. My question really is about the prepositional phrase, rather than about the quotations. In this case the phrase is less than five words, so maybe the comma isn't necessary. Or is it? Would it be necessary if the phrase was five words or more? Thank you! – Ray Ballenberg Dec 02 '15 at 18:10
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There's no such thing as a "five-words" rule, though it safe to say that the more words there are in a prepositional phrase (or any phrase) that begins a sentence, the more likely it is that a comma should be included. Many people, for example, would include a comma in "Yesterday, I went to the store," and many wouldn't, and both are fine. I think another thing to consider is how commonly such a word, phrase, or clause is used. "Yesterday," "This month," "In Rome," and the like are so typical that dropping the comma is almost never an issue. In “I’m Off to See Her” is, however, not a commonly encountered prepositional phrase, and, IMO, would be well served by the comma. I am an editor by profession who encounters this kind of thing almost every day, and in general, my default position is that an initial phrase or word that modifies a sentence that follows it should always include a comma; then, in particular instances, I reconsider--does a comma help or not? If it really makes no difference, then I defer to the writer's preference, as long as the writer follows a consistent path. In the sentence you are asking about, I would certainly add the comma (whether you, as the writer, included it or not).
(I do see where the Purdue Owl [owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/] indicates that "long prepositional phrases (over four words)" should include a comma. IMO, this is a bit too formal. Again, IMO, it's not simply the number of words, but how quickly a reader can process them (is it a common phrase, or something they've never seen before?). Also, I'd simply point out, Purdue says "four words," but somewhere you have heard that five is the limit. This demonstrates that really, it is a matter of opinion, personal style, etc.)