---
title: "Fronted Adverbials and Commas"
description: "Use fronted adverbials to vary sentence openings and punctuate them with commas"
canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/fronted-adverbials-and-commas-mt_0QJoKWABdC
source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/fronted-adverbials-and-commas-mt_0QJoKWABdC.md
retrieved: 2026-10-19
---

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# Fronted Adverbials and Commas

Use fronted adverbials to vary sentence openings and punctuate them with commas

Subject: English · Area: Grammar & Punctuation · Ages 8 to 9
Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/fronted-adverbials-and-commas-mt_0QJoKWABdC

## Ready when they can

- Write a sentence beginning with a time adverbial, e.g. 'Later that day, the children ran home'
- Rewrite 'The fox crept through the garden at midnight' with the adverbial fronted and a comma placed correctly
- Identify and correct a missing comma after a fronted adverbial in 'Before breakfast she packed her bag'

## Lesson: Moving Words to the Front

You already know phrases that tell when, where, or why something happens, like 'at midnight' or 'after lunch.' Usually these phrases sit at the end, but starting every sentence the same way gets boring to read. Move one to the front instead, and add a comma right after it, before the rest of the sentence starts.

*(drawing: Here, 'at midnight' sits at the end, its usual spot.)*

**Example.** Move 'at midnight' to the front and add a comma: 'At midnight, the fox crept along.' The comma shows where the opening phrase ends and the main sentence begins.

**Tip.** Look for a comma after phrases like 'later,' 'before breakfast,' or 'quietly' when they open a sentence. Without it, the reader cannot tell where the opening phrase ends.

**Recap.** When a time, place, or cause phrase starts a sentence, put a comma right after it.

## Practice

24 questions on this page, each with its working shown.

## Needs first

- [Commas in lists](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/commas-in-lists-mt_ntqNLHsj5n)
- [Expressing Time, Place and Cause](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/expressing-time-place-and-cause-mt_uorNrPTh6U)

## Opens up

- [Commas After Introductory Elements](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/commas-after-introductory-elements-mt_0wUwxyBs5y)
- [Prepositional Phrases](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/prepositional-phrases-mt_7SfQuXgNtd)
- [Linking paragraphs with adverbials](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/linking-paragraphs-with-adverbials-mt_uvILgZq9HN)
- [Commas to avoid ambiguity](https://lightmysky.com/learn/english/commas-to-avoid-ambiguity-mt_VMS3kDQ8sA)