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It did little to address what would happen on Day 2, after the United States pulled out of the deal.

This sentence is talking about a hypothetical situation wherein the US pulls out of a nuclear deal with Iran.

Does the comma before the word after imply that that part of the sentence is an afterthought? The sentence would still make sense without that second phrase, but it does clarify the first sentence.

Otherwise, if I move that phrase to the beginning of the sentence, it changes the meaning of the sentence from a hypothetical to a reality:

After the United States pulled out of the deal, it did little to address what would happen on Day 2.

So, why is there a comma before after?

Thank you!

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    There is no need for a comma there. It flows fine. I saw him in the parking lot after we had discussed the conference. Same idea of the flow.
    – Lambie
    Commented Jun 8 at 23:40
  • I agree with Lambie. Also I don't see that reversing the order of the phrases changes the meaning from "hypothetical to reality".
    – Peter Jennings
    Commented Jun 8 at 23:56
  • Does and "after pulling out" refer to "day 2"? Or are they different time periods?
    – ishtar
    Commented Jun 9 at 0:34
  • @ishtar I am not exactly sure, to be honest. I read it as meaning that what happens after America pulls out of the deal is not something that was being prepared. It is an uncertainty about future consequences. Then, I think they are referring to two different time periods: A decision on the part of America to abrogate a nuclear deal with Iran; what happens in the future as a result of that abrogation.
    – Confused And Alone
    Commented Jun 9 at 0:50

1 Answer 1

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The comma changes the meaning of "Day 2". If there is no comma, Day 2 is Day 2 from when the US pulled out of the deal. If the comma is present Day 2 is not tied to the day that the US pulled out; the count of days may begin at some other time, perhaps the date something in the deal was supposed to happen.

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