English Language & Usage Asked by Nad Hmd on October 5, 2020
Moreover, yoga, stretching, and mobility along with strengthening exercises for the back, abdomen, and leg muscles play an important role in the management of lower back pain.
Do I need to set a comma before “along with”?
The comma is necessary because 'along with' follows an enumeration, and introduces a relative clause.
In the enumeration in your quote, 'mobility along with strengthening exercises for the back' is one part. If it were written like "yoga, stretching, and mobility, along with..", it would be clearer that only 'mobility' is the third 'unit' in the enumeration.
I would write the sentence using dashes:
Moreover, yoga, stretching, and mobility - along with strengthening exercises for the back, abdomen, and leg muscles - play an important role in the management of lower back pain.
Or at least use an additional comma after "..and leg muscles".
Correct answer by Joachim on October 5, 2020
It is not necessary to set a comma before 'along with'. He is carrying a book along with a box of pencils.
Answered by ppr on October 5, 2020
I agree with Joachim and Edwin. The non-defining relative clause (or "aside", or "unnecessary/additional information") is set off by commas or another device (he used the dash, which I also find most helpful here) for clarity's sake.
In the example from ppr, 'along' is a simple coordinating conjunction used to join two elements that are "defining", i.e., completely relevant to the originally intended meaning. The "along with" in the second example could simply be substituted with 'and'. The first example is much more complex syntax, and use of 'and' in that example would lead to even more ambiguity.
UPDATE: I just read the title of this thread again, and realized I never explicitly answered it. The phrase "along with" may be used without a comma, as evidenced by ppr's example. It just depends on usage, obviously, as the two examples given are different situations.
Answered by Damion S on October 5, 2020
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