I try to remove commas as much as possible; is this comma needed?

Hi, Andrew,

@Andrew Van Wagner posted:

"And he went from the Maldives to Singapore, where he apparently remains."

Yes, you need that comma because "Singapore" does not need to be defined. Compare with:

- And he went from the Maldives to the island where he apparently remains.

In the sentence above, "where he apparently remains" specifies "the island."

Why is the comma needed? What's wrong with this: "And he went from the Maldives to Singapore where he apparently remains."

What you're saying sounds 100% correct; just trying to understand the logic.

@Andrew Van Wagner posted:

Why is the comma needed? What's wrong with this: "And he went from the Maldives to Singapore where he apparently remains."

Proper names cannot be further defined. Which of these do you think is correct?

- I was born in Canada, where I currently live.

or

- I was born in Canada where I currently live.

I'm 70% confident that you're correct; I just don't get the underpinning logic yet.

Proper names never take defining structures (i.e. without commas) after them unless they are used as common nouns, e.g.:

- The Canada where I was born is not the same Canada where I currently live.

Proper names don't take defining structures because they are already defined.

Thanks! I understand now!