Does a comma always follow 'of course'?

Question

This is very similar to this question but was not satisfactorily answered there.

It's very common for auto-checkers (e.g. Grammarly) to suggest a comma follow 'of course'.

For example, if I write "Of course I do", it underlines the word 'course' and suggests that it be changed to "Of course, I do".

But is that correct? It seems to me that "of course, I do" and "of course I do" could both be correct but mean something slightly different.

In the question linked above, user @HotLicks commented: Basic question: Do you pause anywhere when you say "Of course I don't"?

Possibly that was Socratically leading to the answer but I wanted to try to spell it out.

It seems to me that "Of course, I do" means something like, "on the other hand, this does apply to me." For example, I might say: "If I didn't have a bike, I wouldn't be able to ride to work. Of course, I do so I can."

On the other hand, "Of course I do!" means something like, "I am indignant that you would think that wouldn't apply to me." For example, I might say: "You think I don't have a bike? Of course I do!"

In the above paragraph, 'course' is underlined by Grammarly but the question is:

Is that really an illegitimate usage?

Of course not. Keep in mind there aren't really "rules" in English. Commas are mostly a matter of style, depending on the medium and audience. There is no authority that can define what an "illegitimate usage" is. — user91988, Jan 29 '20 at 18:33
I can't get Grammarly to suggest the comma, and although I generally turn off Microsoft's pitiful effort, I don't recall ever seeing that suggest it either. Ah: I take that back. Grammarly does get your last example wrong. — Andrew Leach, Jan 29 '20 at 18:34
Not liking the answer is an insufficient reason to justify a duplicate question. Kit Z. Fox, Meta — Edwin Ashworth, Jan 29 '20 at 20:37

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

1

Of course not.

Am I going to explain? Of course I am.

"Of course" has many uses. Sometimes it is used in a similar way to the word "obviously". It is in this context that it should be followed by a comma.

Of course, I will explain further.

Obviously, I will explain further.

In other contexts, "of course" is added for emphasis, in the way the word "definitely" might.

Of course not!

Definitely not!

When "of course" is used in the middle of a sentence, it is generally surrounded by parenthetical commas:

This, of course, is an example.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

1

answered Jan 29 '20 at 19:09

Astralbee

2,680

1

Sometimes the comma is just a matter of course. – Ian MacDonald Jan 29 '20 at 19:39

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 30 '20 at 04:19

Usually I would use a comma, if the 'Of course' was introducing a contrary or alternative notion.

"The president is responsible for the actions of the Executive department, of course, our present president is an idiot."

Another way to look at it is to read it out loud. If you stop and pause after the '..course' then drop a comma.

Does a comma always follow 'of course'?

2 Answers2