comma before 'when'? is it correct?

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Futurehuman11  #468200  Thu, 24 Jan 08 03:08 AM
That fight comes in 10 days, when Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in the co-main event of UFC 81.
  
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Yoong Liat  #468212  Thu, 24 Jan 08 03:55 AM

 Futurehuman11 wrote:
That fight comes in 10 days, when Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in the co-main event of UFC 81.

I don't think a comma is required.

  
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Futurehuman11  #468251  Thu, 24 Jan 08 07:04 AM
An explanation would be helpful.
  
Marius Hancu  #468261  Thu, 24 Jan 08 08:37 AM
I think you need one. What comes after "when" is a parenthesis, a secondary thought, which gives details about the fight.
  
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Yoong Liat  #468266  Thu, 24 Jan 08 09:05 AM

I think the comma serves no purpose. The following sentences show that no comma is needed unless 'When' starts the sentence.

I'll come when I've done the winding up.

I was about to leave when the telephone rang.

When possible, we take patients to the theatre.

(Times-Chambers Essential English Dictionary)

  
Grammar Geek  #468456  Thu, 24 Jan 08 06:45 PM

Hi Yoong Liat,

Usually I agree with you completely, but the situations you write about above are not parallel to the original poster.

I'll come when I've done the winding up. This isn't the same as I'll come at 2, when I should have finished the [whatever winding up is].

In the original post, it names a time - in 10 days. The rest of the sentence gives more information about that happens at that 10-day point.

I'm looking forward to the day I turn 18, when I can finally vote.
I'll be there at 3, when school lets out.

  
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Barbara, who answers in American English.
Yoong Liat  #468621  Fri, 25 Jan 08 04:13 AM

Hi Barbara

I agree with your explanation.

Best wishes.

  
Carson21  #468647  Fri, 25 Jan 08 06:10 AM

 Futurehuman11 wrote:
That fight comes in 10 days, when Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in the co-main event of UFC 81.

This is similar to the case of the second clause renaming the first.

My teacher, Mrs. Smith, is the first English teacher I've had that didn't use 'is' with a plural subject!

We renamed "my teacher", so we use a comma.

... 10 days, when Lesnar...

This time, rather than re-naming (or rather, re-specifying) a person or object, we're renaming a time frame.

I must comment, however, on the odd grammar of the first clause. "That fight comes in 10 days..." sound wierd to me. If I were to write that whole sentence, it'd look like this:

Lesnar takes on former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir in UFC 81 in ten days! or Ten days from now, Lesnar takes on ...

Unless there's a context this sentence was pulled out of?

  
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English doesn't "borrow" from other languages; it follows them dark alleys, beats them unconscious, then rummages through their pockets looking for loose grammar.
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