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I wrote this sentence

We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page, therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.

Did I used the comma correctly before and after "therefore" to relate the sentences? What is the rule?

what is the difference of these alternatives?

1) We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page. Therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.

2) We show that our proposed system provides robust and maintainable wrappers, which are not tailored to the HTML structure of the page; therefore, they can be employed to gather and integrate data from various Web sites.

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  • Have you tried searching for "punctuation with therefore" (with quotes)? I find plenty of info online.
    – Victor Bazarov
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 14:28
  • @VictorBazarov I tried to make my question more specific.
    – Ahmad
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 15:00
  • 1
    I see your updated question. First of all, I don't think that "therefore" needs a comma after it. It does need a comma before it, usually, if it starts another clause. Whether to separate two sentences by a full stop or a semicolon is irrelevant to the fact that you use 'therefore'.
    – Victor Bazarov
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 15:24
  • @VictorBazarov if I got you right, you mean it must be in a new sentence and no need for comma? I guess if I have had used "thus", then I could use the second sentence!
    – Ahmad
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 16:11
  • 1
    I don't have a problem with any of them, however I am not a writer. Probably there is some technical rule. I would prefer 1) because it breaks up what otherwise is a really long sentence (three clauses + conjunctions).
    – user3169
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 18:16

1 Answer 1

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1

You should use a semicolon before therefore as it introduces a complete sentence joined with the first independent clause.

"........of the page; therefore, they can be........."

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2
  • What is its difference with beginning a new sentence using "...Therefore, ...".
    – Ahmad
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 15:01
  • I think the difference is subtle. In the former case (; therefore) the pause is shorter than t hat in the latter case (Therefore,) between the two sentences.
    – Khan
    Commented Aug 21, 2015 at 16:06

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