The humble comma is currently hanging in the balance.

The big question in education at the moment is whether AI will replace the need for children to learn grammar, sentence structure and use punctuation.

Why learn how to use a comma if Grammarly can do it for me? Grammarly is currently free, but it won't always be free. One day there will be an enormous cost to pay and our children and their children will have to pay for these skills they never learned at school.

In an age of environmental uncertainty at a time when power, internet and water turn off for days and weeks, our children must still be able to communicate correctly, and maybe even rebuild from the ground up.

We owe it to our children to teach them well.

So what is a 'fronted' adverbial phrase?

• A short phrase at the beginning (front) of the sentence that provides information about when, where, how, or why the action occurs.

E.g. Every morning at 5 o'clock,

Every Sunday morning,

Whenever the sun is shining,

Use a comma after a fronted adverbial phrase

Pop a comma in and voila! You may continue with the subject and verb portion of the sentence.

E.g. Every day at 6 am, I rise from slumber to write to you, dear reader.

Reinforce the learning with a game of hilarious sentences

• Each student takes a piece of scrap paper and writes an adverbial phrase of their own making, followed by a comma. Fold the paper to conceal the adverbial.

• Pass the paper to the left and the next person now writes an independent clause, followed by a full stop.

• Take turns reading the amusing sentences to the class.