How, Where to Utilize a Comma, Why?

Question

In this, "Freddy is stiff from yesterday's long football practice." and

Before class, Josh begged his friends for a pencil.", from, here, a comma seems to get utilized in that latter, not that former.

Why may it not go like this, "Freddy is stiff, from yesterday's long football practice".

It seems, you may place a comma, after a dependent clause", not an, "independent clause"?

May you get to place a comma after a "dependent clause"?

I guess, maybe, where, how, may you select to utilize a comma, why?

I suggest you utilize commas much less often :-)
– user230
Commented May 10, 2015 at 2:02 — user230, Commented May 10, 2015 at 2:02
...& perhaps paragraphs, or at least new lines, more often
– DoneWithThis.
Commented May 10, 2015 at 8:14 — DoneWithThis., Commented May 10, 2015 at 8:14

SovereignSun · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-12 13:29:24Z

You don't need a comma here.

Freddy is stiff from yesterday's long football practice. (He is stiff because yesterday he had a long-lasting football practice) This is a restrictive phrase (one that is necessary to the sentence) and as we know restrictive phrases do not have commas around them.

But you need it here:

Before class, Josh begged his friends for a pencil. This is an adverb phrase (introductory prepositional phrase) that comes at the beginning of the sentence. Such are usually separated from the sentence by a comma unless they are very short (three words or fewer) and it is easy to tell where the phrase ends. If you feel that there is a pause, place a comma.

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