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Can someone please explain the grammar rule that governs these three sentences, especially the last. Why is a comma required after the word 'Indeed' in the last sentence?

This is indeed a great piece of news.

This is, indeed, a great piece of news.

Indeed, this is a great piece of news, [comma required by placement]

bugsyb
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    The comma isn't actually necessary in the last sentence - some British writers, especially older ones, wouldn't use it. – Angelos Jan 02 '17 at 20:13
  • @Angelos can you name an example? Like, a book's name and a quote from it and where roughly to find the quote (chapter, ...)? Would just be curious to see it in the wild. While it makes more sense to me to consider it as optional at the start, it's hard somehow to find anyone who uses it like that or even says it's allowed. – E. K. Jan 18 '22 at 22:30

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Generally, it depends on the way you are using the word "indeed". If "indeed" is used as an interjection in the sentence in order to emphasise some particular type of remark, then you should certainly use "comma" so as to offset the effect of the interjection. Introductory use of the word "indeed" (as in your third sentence), requires "comma" for the same purposes.

A good way to judge the correct way is to have a glance at your sentence. If you can remove the word "indeed" from the sentence leaving the actual meaning of the said sentence intact, you can shun the use of "comma", but if your interjection is so strong that the sentence is in dire need of the word so as to maintain its veridical meaning, you must use "comma".

Hope it helps!