Writing tip: usage of commas

An interesting writing tip from http://www.GrammerCheck.com
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QUESTION: "Now that spring has arrived, the flowers are in bloom, and the trees are budding." This is a sentence my English teacher gave us in class, and I told her that it was wrong and she needed to drop the second comma. She disagreed and said it was right as is.

GRAMMARCHECK: Your teacher is correct. The sentence in question has one dependent clause and two independent clauses:

Dependent Clause: Now that spring has arrived

Independent Clause #1: The flowers are in bloom.

Independent Clause #2: The trees are budding.

The first comma is necessary because a comma should be placed after an introductory [dependent] clause. The comma separating the two independent clauses is optional because both clauses are short and closely related; however, it's never incorrect to place a comma between two independent clauses that are joined with a conjunction.

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