J Lewis  +  292978 Tue, 14 Nov 06 02:34 PM Who can punctuate these two series of words? - 1)  That that is is that that is not is not is not that it it is 2) John where James had had had had had had had had had had had the teacher's approval J Lewis Joined on Tue, Sep 5 2006 Italy Regular Member 518 Punctuation

	Clive  +  292984 Tue, 14 Nov 06 02:44 PM Hi, 2) John where James had had had had had had had had had had had the teacher's approval 2) John, where James had had 'had had', had 'had had had'. 'Had had' had the teacher's approval. I haven't got time right now to look at #1. Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,679 El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos Discépolo Punctuation

	J Lewis  +  293045 Tue, 14 Nov 06 04:37 PM Clive is near but not quite right. How can you justify "had had had" in an English exercise? FM's is right at the end: "Is not that it? It is". But the beginning is wrong. J Lewis Punctuation

	nona the brit  +  293052 Tue, 14 Nov 06 04:46 PM 2. you've missed a few words off the end, that's why it is hard. 2) John, where James had had 'had' had had 'had had'. Had 'Had had' had the teacher's approval, then John would have been right! nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all. Punctuation

	FluidnMotion  +  293069 Tue, 14 Nov 06 05:11 PM John, where James had had "had", had had "had had". "Had had" had had the teacher's approval. To understand better, here is a story I made up. Both John and James are third persons here. Peter talks to Paul about John's and James' grammar usage. Peter says to Paul the above "had had" paragraph. Peter says, wherever James used "Had", John had used "Had had". The Teacher liked the "Had had usage". -------------- "That that" is "is that". That is not, is not. Is not that it? It is. --------------   FluidnMotion Grammar, Paragraphs, Punctuation

	Clive  +  293167 Wed, 15 Nov 06 12:23 AM Hi again, Question- 2) John where James had had had had had had had had had had had the teacher's approval Answer -  2) John, where James had had 'had had', had 'had had had'. 'Had had' had the teacher's approval. Here's my scenario. First, James wrote 'Before I bought a Porsche, I had had a BMW.' The teacher approved of the 'had had' in this sentence. Next, John wrote 'Before I bought a Porsche, I had had had a BMW.' James obviously has trouble with the Past Perfect, so the teacher did not approve of the 'had had had' in this sentence. Jonathan, this may not be the scenario you had in mind, but do you think my answer is invalid? Best wishes, Clive Clive Punctuation, Past Perfect

	benita  +  293255 Wed, 15 Nov 06 07:52 AM Two answers for the first one. a. That that is, is; that that is not, is not; is not that it?  It is. b. That 'that' is 'is'; that 'that' is not 'is not'.  Is not 'that' 'it'?  It is. benita Joined on Mon, Jan 31 2005 India Contributing Member 1,667 But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep - Robert Frost Punctuation

	J Lewis  +  293498 Wed, 15 Nov 06 03:38 PM For no. 2, FluidnMotion got the one that I was thinking of, but Nona gave an interesting variant and I accept Clive's explanation. For no. 1 the "correct" answer was "That that is is; that that is not is not. Is not that it? It is", as Benita put it. I'm not so convinced by Benita's "b" solution. A couple of points here: Benita puts "that that is, is". Perhaps the comma makes it clearer but I'm not sure that it can be justified grammatically because it means putting a comma between the subject and the verb. You can say "My cat, which I love, eats fish", but you would not put just a comma as in "My cat, eats fish". The other point is about "Is not that it?", even though I included it myself. The contracted interrogative negative is "isn't that it?", but maybe the uncontracted form should be "is that not it?". It's such an unusual form that I don't know which sounds natural and I can't be bothered to look it up! J Lewis Verbs, Negatives, Punctuation, Commas