Should there be a comma after "But"?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
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But of course, he didn’t do this, as he had no idea that this particular catch was going to end in disaster.

Should there be a comma after “But”?

Thanks.

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I don’t think a comma is needed. “But of course” is a phrase implying that you’re looking down on the person a bit.

BTW, I would probably also not put the comma after “But of course”. I think the sentence reads much smoother that way.
“But of course he didn’t do this, as he had no idea that this particular catch was going to end in disaster.”

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This needs more context. Something obviously preceded this. I could read this two ways.

I could read it as Arinker did, which would not need a comma.

or

I could read this as agreeing with something that was said earlier. In that case, I think it should be:

But of course! He didn’t do this [because]…

If referring to something stated earlier, it should probably be “He didn’t do that”. But without knowing the full context, ‘this’ may also be correct.

When spoken, “but of course” is usually an exclamation with a distinct full stop. It might stand alone with nothing else being said. Or it may be followed by something else.

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It being an idiomatic usage to emphasize ‘his having not done it’, there is no comma required.

In a certain specific context, we may have to use a comma as illustrated below.

X: I don’t think Jim is a good singer.
Y: Yes. But, of course, he is an excellent actor.

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