Comma before too?

Drez

Like:

Is it "I think I love you too." or "I think I love you, too."?

I think the latter is grammatically correct, but I'm not sure why.

wonderpug

Well I'll be! I thought for sure the latter was grammatically correct, but after looking at some style manuals it seems things are shifting to the former. The official stance seems to now range from "it's a stylistic choice" to "nah, leave it out."

Drez

Huh, interesting. edit: And thanks!

Does this also go for "either" when used in this manner:

"I don't know if I agree with that either." vs "I don't know if I agree with that, either."

Not the best construction anyway, but you see where I am going with that.

ceres

I was always taught that ",too" was correct, but I probably use the comma about 30% of the time. :P

RadicalTurnip

Technically it's a stylistic choice, but I used to put commas in all the places they might go...and it looks crazy how many commas you get. I tend to leave it out nowadays.

LaOs

Drez wrote: »

Huh, interesting. edit: And thanks!

Does this also go for "either" when used in this manner:

"I don't know if I agree with that either." vs "I don't know if I agree with that, either."

Not the best construction anyway, but you see where I am going with that.

I would say that for your "either" situations, the first construction means that you wouldn't agree with [x] as well as an unmentioned (previously mentioned or implied) [y], whereas the second construction means that you and [Billy] wouldn't agree with [x].

I would have said the ", too" construction was correct, but I can see that things are shifting to a change, so I'd just go with it being a stylistic choice, so it would depend how you're writing the rest of the piece.

EggyToast

Either choice is correct, but your choice can have an influence on meaning. If you're simply tossing it in there for basic agreement, you can safely omit the comma. However, if you're pointing out a difference by including the "too," you'd usually want to include a comma. Examples are abound on the Internet for this, but an easy way to think about it is that you don't use a comma when you're saying "Me too!" nor do you use one if you use a similar set of words like "I also like peas" or "I'm a vegetarian as well." In those instances, you can use "too" with no comma and they both look and feel right -- "I too like peas" and "I'm a vegetarian too." You'll notice that it's often stylistically better to simply use other words, though.

Here's an example of where you'd want to include the comma: "I'm generally a fan of stylistic commas, and I use the oxford/serial comma, too." See, I used too with a comma before it because I'm discussing a different topic and emphasizing how it's different from the main grammar discussion. However, if this conversation started with you asking about using the serial comma, then I'd omit the comma before too. So, to illustrate:

Talking about a comma before too, "I use the serial comma, too"

Talking about the serial comma, "I use the serial comma too"

Djeet

People tend to overuse commas. I don't see any need for a comma in "..., too" and "..., either" scenarios, and from a prescriptive sense they are unnecessary and thus not to be used.

However, when being used to show dialogue a lot of the prescriptive grammar rules go out the window.

Darkewolfe

Djeet wrote: »

People tend to overuse commas. I don't see any need for a comma in "..., too" and "..., either" scenarios, and from a prescriptive sense they are unnecessary and thus not to be used.

This is really what the use of the comma comes down to. When writing in general, if style indicates a comma is optional, only use it when you find that the reader NEEDS it to understand what you're writing. However, if writing to allow something to be read aloud you will often find that the comma is helpful for pacing and diction.

EggyToast

Yeah, we don't all need to write like Cormac McCarthy or Hemingway.

Donovan Puppyfucker

Really, you can put a comma, anywhere you'd like. It just makes reading your writing, a little tedious...