Unsuccesful scam?

[EaglePhoenix]

You are usually pretty good the punctuation usage.

I use commas to place pauses in a sentence where you would expect them if it was being spoken.

In your first usage you have the commas before and after the "however" which when spoken sounds like:

"Until then {pause} however {pause} the above is still wrong."

Which to me seems a little unnatural in English when you enunciate it.

Either of these seem more natural to me.

"Until then however, the above is still wrong."
"Until then however {pause} the above is still wrong." (this one gives equal emphasis to either side of the however)

"Until then, however the above is still wrong."
"Until then {pause} however the above is still wrong." (this one puts more emphasis on the clause following the however).

I know English is not your primary language, but you do have an above average grasp if it even among those having English as a primary language.

In above cases, the first is the most plausible and probably most up to date / modern. The second one lacks content in the first part of the sentence to allow for the comma to only be placed before 'however', but I get the idea.

I do reckon the confusion with 'however' is due to its many usages.

If 'however' indicates that the relationship between two independent clauses is one of contrast/opposition (used as a conjunctive adverb to make a compound sentence) - a semi-colon is to be used before and a comma after it. (Something I actually didn't know, semi-colons is not something I see often used.)

However, if you start a sentence with 'however' it must be immediately followed by a comma and a complete sentence thereafter (regular and probably easiest use of the word).

Using it as an aside allows for a comma both before and after the word - at least, that's what I keep encountering on the internet. http://www.sonoma.edu/users/f/farahm...es/however.pdf (not the only source I used)

Of course, you can also use it in the context 'by whatever means' (see source) - in which case neither comma nor semi-colon is required. E.g.: "However much chocolate I gave LadyIntegra, she was never satisfied."

I can conclude that it's better to avoid the word entirely when it's not fully clear, and just reform the sentence instead, heh.

Wow - I feel educated again. I'll never be able to read a sentence with 'however' in it as I did before .