I recently responded to a comma question on another website that really made me think. The question pertained to commas in sentences that have conjunctions followed by conjunctive adverbs. I am reposting my response herebecause (1) it was an interesting question and(2) my response may help people who have a similar question.

Go here for the original post and discussion. (external site, new window)

You asked a complex question, but I will take a crack at explaining how to use commas in your sample.

Lets use this sample: The rider had a lot of experience, but, nevertheless, could not control the wild stallion.

This sentence should not have a comma before but because the text that follows is not an independent clause.

If you were to remove nevertheless, the sentence would be structurally identical to the sentences described in this post, as follows: The rider had a lot of experience but could not control the wild stallion. It has no subject following but and, therefore, does not need a comma before but (similar to this sentence).

In brief: If you have two independent clauses joined by a conjunction, use a comma before the conjunction. Otherwise, dont.

Now, lets think about your question specifically and examine the commas around conjunctive adverbs, including nevertheless. Lets add a subject to the second part of the sentence (which requires adding the comma before the conjunction) and see what happens.

First approach: Some people say you should use commas around nevertheless because nevertheless and similar words are conjunctive adverbs, whichare set off from the rest of the sentence with commas. Using the commas around conjunctive adverbs following conjunctions can make a sentence sound choppy, but this advice represents strict adherence to comma rules.

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