Does this sentence need a comma? Gum and drinks are not allowed, because they can create disasters in the dirt-free zone.
YES!
Cortney is wrong. We do not use a comma before "because."
Please study this site.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
No, a comma is not needed
Yes, the sentence needs a comma to separate the dependent clause from the independent clause. The dependent clause in this sentence is "because they can create disasters in the dirt-free zone," and the independent clause is "Gum and drinks are not allowed."
To determine whether a comma is needed in a sentence like this, you can identify the main clause (independent clause) and the subordinate clause (dependent clause). In this case, the main clause is "Gum and drinks are not allowed," while the subordinate clause is "because they can create disasters in the dirt-free zone."
Whenever a subordinate clause comes before the main clause, a comma is usually needed to separate the two clauses. So in this sentence, a comma is required after "allowed," before the word "because."
Therefore, the corrected version of the sentence would be: "Gum and drinks are not allowed because they can create disasters in the dirt-free zone."