Do readers pause at a comma?

[The_Lonely_Guy]

Just wanted to know from the perspective of a reader. Do they really give themselves a pause when they come across a comma ( , ) an exclamation ( ! ) , question mark ( ? ) or other grammatical pauses?

 

[SailusGebel]

It depends on the sentence.

 

[Alfir]

Based on my personal perception:
( . ) I pause at 0.1 sec.
( ? ) I pause at 0.5 sec.
( , ) I pause at 0.3 sec.
( ! ) I pause at 0.8 sec.

This is just my estimate and most accurate guess.

 

[PeacefulMyst]

I personally mostly do.

 

[IDKWtWrite-San]

Because when you read as a reader that needs a comma there, your brain activates something inside of you to make a pause. Like you have a full sentence and you read it aloud and then you feel like there's missing something and its the pause.

 

[Redemit]

I don't even register most of those half the time other then ? And !

 

[PeacefulMyst]

Because when you read as a reader that needs a comma there, your brain activates something inside of you to make a pause. Like you have a full sentence and you read it aloud and then you feel like there's missing something and its the pause.

Exactly. I feel like I've read it wrong without the pause.

 

[reihan]

i only look at commas just to look for grammatical error. sorry authors.
but yeah i dont really think a lot about commas.

 

[kiplet]

The comma was originally intended as a sign to the reader, who would've been reading aloud, to pause here in the flow of the text to take a breath, so yes, I'd hope they'd pause.

 

[ConansWitchBaby]

I find exclamations weird. They are after the information in the sentence has been given. At least in my native language it's placed at the beginning. Makes it feel like I have to re-read the sentence but in a different prose.

 

[Kilolo]

I do always pause when there's a comma

but honestly? I rarely met anyone who could read punctuation correctly. most of them when reading stuff they didn't pause at commas or dots, they pause at the next lines (that one when you wrote a sentence longer than the page width, you go back again to the left and read the continuation of the sentence at one line below it. I hope my explanation make sense)

 

[TheDylanDrakes]

I do! And not just a small pause, either. Every time I see a comma, I have to get up and go for a walk. Just writing this comment took me almost an hour.

But seriously, I don't think punctuation marks are pacing devices. For me (as a former English language teacher), they are just mechanisms of grammar. Some people care a LOT about correct punctuation. But plenty don't care at all.


,

(damn, my finger slipped, and I had to go for another walk)

 

[Deleted member 57675]

Think it depends on the user. If its an extra long sentence with many commas, then will feel like there are multiple pauses in the sentence when reading it. Many pauses in a sentence makes it sound choppy. If that's the case, (and depends on the sentence), then there may be a good chance it needs to be chopped into smaller sentences.

 

[SakeVision]

Not me, I just don't perceive them.

 

[Cipiteca396]

I read like I'm speaking aloud. The comma is not a comma, it's a pause in the flow of speech. It's there to teach you how the sentence should "sound".

I guess for people who don't "hear" the text, it's a waste of time? No inner monologue?

 

[gogo7966]

i will stop at nothing

 

[Deleted member 70223]

Speed readers don't pause for commas.

 

[Twistedskald]

Comas help you orient yourself within the sentence. More than once I was thrown off about what was happening just because the author didn't place a coma to demarcate between who was doing what in a particular action.