ESL General English Grammar Questions

Re: Thank you, John, for your contribution.

Jackson6612 — Sun, 11 May 2008 07:51:08 GMT

Yankee
Using the 'would be' is more tentative than using 'is'.

tentative
1: not fully worked out or developed <tentative plans> 2: hesitant, uncertain <a tentative smile>
[M-W's Col. Dic.]

Hi Amy,
I'm sorry for asking you questions repeatedly. I hope you won't mind. Which of the above definitions of tentative fit in the context of the quoted sentence?

Re: Thank you, John, for your contribution.

Yankee — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:49:01 GMT

Using the 'would be' is more tentative than using 'is'. Yes, I used 'would' because I was voicing my opinion. (It was nevertheless an opinion that I firmly believe to be true. )

Re: Thank you, John, for your contribution.

Jackson6612 — Sat, 10 May 2008 19:19:40 GMT

Yankee
It's OK. However, it would be more common to say it this way:
Thank you for your contribution, John.

If I asked myself that why did Amy use would in the above sentence, then I would probably convince myself by telling that it's just because she wanted to give her opinion. What do you think? Was there any other reason to use would?

Re: Thank you, John, for your contribution.

Yankee — Sat, 10 May 2008 15:25:56 GMT

It's OK. However, it would be more common to say it this way:

Thank you for your contribution, John.

Thank you, John, for your contribution.

Jackson6612 — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:46:09 GMT

Is the punctuation in the following sentence correct?
Thank you, John, for your contribution.