comma before/after 'that' [conjunction]: admit, that through...,

I need help punctuating the following sentence, please.

I am embarrassed to admit that through a clerical error there was a very long delay in sending this note to you.

I'm fairly certain that commas are needed, but I wonder which placement is correct:

...admit, that through a clerical error, there was...

OR

...admit that, through a clerical error, there was...

Or am I way off on this? I've checked several online references and did not come up with a definitive answer. Any help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
fullcircle

fullcircle said:

...admit that, through a clerical error, there was...

Click to expand...

That's it! But you're not off the hook quite yet. Tell me why! :)

In this case the commas mark off a parenthetical clause, which is one, when omitted, will leave a complete sentence:

I am embarrassed to admit that [through a clerical error] there was a very long delay in sending this note to you.

You can see that if you disregard the clause in brackets (in red) the sentence still makes sense, so the commas should separate out that clause. The clause in brackets should also stand alone, but if you if you were to separate it out like this:

I am embarrassed to admit [that through a clerical error] there was a very long delay in sending this note to you.

although the blue part is still a correct sentence ("that" may be omitted), the red part has a "that" does not belong to the clause "through a clerical error", so the answer is:

I am embarrassed to admit that, through a clerical error, there was a very long delay in sending this note to you.

Of course, if you are a stickler, and say that "that" may not be omitted in the blue sentence, then the decision is easier.

I wonder if anyone will disagree with me. :)

I agree with you, MM.

And then again I don't: to me the sentence works perfectly well without any commas. (I'd probably say due to instead of through, but that's just me). I feel that the parenthetical part is short enough to 'run on' quite smoothly fore and aft ~ you get to the end with plenty of breath left.

dannyv said:

That's it! But you're not off the hook quite yet. Tell me why! :)

Click to expand...

It's a parenthetical phrase. The word "that" threw me off. I read a bunch of stuff about that and which, nonessential phrases, restrictive/nonrestrictive use, etc. and confused myself silly!:confused::D

Thanks for the quick response!

A million thanks to all that replied! I've bookmarked this page. Maybe sometime I'll be able to return the favor to someone. Despite my silly question, I'm really not a dummy! :)

ewie said:

...to me the sentence works perfectly well without any commas. (I'd probably say due to instead of through, but that's just me). I feel that the parenthetical part is short enough to 'run on' quite smoothly fore and aft ~ you get to the end with plenty of breath left.

Click to expand...

Actually, I quite agree with your interpretation as well. :)