MaverickK  +  582065 Fri, 31 Oct 08 05:02 AM Hi, Here a sentence has been broken into 4 parts.We need to identify which parts are incorrect grammatically or usage wise. 1. So once an economy is actually in recession, 2. the authorities can, in principle, move the economy 3. out of slump - assuming hypothetically 4. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli. I feel the first and the second part is correct.In the third and the fourth part,I feel there is an incorrect usage of the hyphen. I just went through a discussion on this site regarding hyphen usage.Dave had put up an article from the Economist Style guide regarding the usage of hyphen.But in that,I did not see hyphens being used as pauses in a sentence(thisis done by a comma or a semicolon).Please correct me if I am wrong.Also tell me if there is someting else wrong in any part of the sentence. MaverickK Joined on Wed, Dec 26 2007 Junior Member 61 Articles, Colons, Commas, Hyphens, Semicolons

	AlpheccaStars  +  582068 Fri, 31 Oct 08 05:12 AM MaverickK “3. out of its (or the) slump - assuming hypothetically 4. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli.stimulus ( stimuli is plural) ”     AlpheccaStars Joined on Sun, Oct 12 2008 Senior Member 3,508 The pen is mightier than the sword. Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)

	MaverickK  +  582071 Fri, 31 Oct 08 05:38 AM Thanks for your reply Alphecca.But can you tell me what is wrong with the usage "out of slump" ? And is there nothinh wrong with the usage of hypen? MaverickK

	MaverickK  +  582113 Fri, 31 Oct 08 08:40 AM I am in more confusion now.I will give the full question here.We have to identify the parts of sentence which are correct from the given options - 1. So once an economy is actually in recession, 2. the authorities can, in principle, move the economy 3. out of slump - assuming hypothetically 4. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli. 5. In the longer term, however, such policies have no affect on the overall behaviour of the economy. (A) 1, 2 & 5     (B) 2, 3 & 5     (C) 3 & 4     (D) 5 only     (E) 2 only Part 5 is definetly wrong(policies have no affect). This means option A,B and D are ruled out.This means either part 3 and 4 are correct OR only part 2 is correct.Please help. MaverickK

	Clive  +  582235 Fri, 31 Oct 08 02:49 PM Hi, I am in more confusion now.I will give the full question here.We have to identify the parts of sentence which are correct from the given options - 1. So once an economy is actually in recession, Not OK. A comma should follow 'so'. 2. the authorities can, in principle, move the economy  OK , although I'd say 'it' rather than repeat the word 'economy'. 3. out of slump - assuming hypothetically Not OK. 'Out of slump' is not idiomatic. It sounds odd. 4. that they know how to - by a temporary stimuli. Not OK. 'Stimuli' is plural, as already pointed out 5. In the longer term, however, such policies have no affect on the overall behaviour of the economy. Not OK. (effect) (A) 1, 2 & 5     (B) 2, 3 & 5     (C) 3 & 4     (D) 5 only     (E) 2 only Part 5 is definetly wrong (policies have no affect). This means option A,B and D are ruled out.This means either part 3 and 4 are correct OR only part 2 is correct.Please help. As regards the hyphens, different people favour different ways of using hyphens and dashes. But even without considering that, there are lots of errors as noted above. I'd choose E. This is quite a tricky test question. Best wishes, Clive Clive Joined on Thu, Oct 28 2004 Canada Veteran Member 29,595 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 Regards, Plurals, Commas, Hyphens