Search results for 'tag:Commas tag:Punctuation' matching tags 'Commas' and 'Punctuation'

Re: questions about possibility

Mr Wordy — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:51:33 GMT

Hi Tuongvan, you have continuing problems with spacing around punctuation.

You do not need spaces before question marks:

Who could have broken it ? -- incorrect (or non-standard)

Who could have broken it? -- correct

When you use a full stop, comma, colon or semicolon, put a single space after it, and no space before.

Situation1 :The window was broken yesterday .Now I ask Jim : -- incorrect

Situation 1: The window was broken yesterday. Now I ask Jim: -- correct

As far as your other questions are concerned, I've tried to describe my usage below, as best I can.

Who could/can have broken it? -- Both OK.
Who might have broken it? -- OK, but to me tends to suggest that there are a known group of suspects.
Who may have broken it? -- not natural to me.

Is Jack coming to Ann's birthday party? / Is Jack going to come to Ann's birthday party? -- These are the most common ways to ask.
Will Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- OK.
Might Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Possible; more polite, and tends to imply greater doubt about whether he'll come.
May Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Could theoretically mean "does Jack have permission to come", but this use is somewhat old-fashioned, and the sentence is not very natural to me.
Can Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Fine. Asks if he is able to come (has permission/opportunity).
Could Jack come to Ann's birthday party? -- Same, but expresses greater doubt/politeness.

Could he have lost his way? -- Fine.
Can he have lost his way? -- OK, but less likely.
Might he have lost his way? -- OK; more formal.
May he have lost his way? -- Not natural to me.

Re: Your intepretation greatly needed

Mr Wordy — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:43:04 GMT

Anonymous
My personal intepretation which I think satisfy the sentence would be
1. âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper with up to 39 formulae ~~(no text)~~ written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â
At least, I think I would satisfy the first part of the sentence. I have the formulas to one side of the paper.
2. âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper ~~with up to 39 formulae~~ (no text) written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â
After satisfying the first part, I kept the text to one side (actually the same side with the formula) of the A4 paper.

The above intepretation can cause many to disagree, heres how I see the above sentence, is that there were no punctuation marks (commas) to separate the conditions within, leaving me to group the conditions as I see fit (disagree? please tell me) and hence the final paper looks like this, one side is blank, the other side contains both formulas and text.

Now, how wrong can I be with this final piece of paper?

I have no idea what you are trying to say or ask. What do you mean by "satisfy the sentence"? How can you "satisfy the sentence" by crossing out essential parts of it?

I personally do not think that the way the sentence is punctuated contributes to its ambiguity.

Re: Your intepretation greatly needed

Anonymous — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:39:51 GMT

Hello, many thanks to all who took the time to respond to this query.

My personal intepretation which I think satisfy the sentence would be
1. âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper with up to 39 formulae ~~(no text)~~ written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â
At least, I think I would satisfy the first part of the sentence. I have the formulas to one side of the paper.
2. âStudents are allowed to bring into the examination ONEA4 piece of paper ~~with up to 39 formulae~~ (no text) written on one side of it, with the equations sequentially numbered. â
After satisfying the first part, I kept the text to one side (actually the same side with the formula) of the A4 paper.

The above intepretation can cause many to disagree, heres how I see the above sentence, is that there were no punctuation marks (commas) to separate the conditions within, leaving me to group the conditions as I see fit (disagree? please tell me) and hence the final paper looks like this, one side is blank, the other side contains both formulas and text.

Now, how wrong can I be with this final piece of paper?

Re: Is this correct?

Grammar Geek — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:28:10 GMT

suhanii, do not use ellipses (which should be three dots) as a substitute for proper punctuation.

The first ... should be a comma and the second .. should be omitted.

Also, listen to

Re: How to use dash, colon, semicolon ?

Grammar Geek — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:31:14 GMT

Pleasecorrectme

Does using too much Colons and semicolons make writing seem very unnatural? Then how can I use or learn to use these punctuation marks naturally ? ( Including other punctuation marks )

Hello PCM,

The key to your question is "too much." Too much of anything is unnatural. Even ice cream. (Although, happily, I haven't found that point yet when it comes to ice cream.)

Colons are really not often used. Your example is a good one. Use them before a list. Until you have written a great deal, don't try to insert them into running text (standard prose).

The comment about not using "and" and a semicolon refers to using the semicolon to seperate two complete thoughts; and so, you would not use it like this. (That was an example of incorrect useage.)

One way to use a semicolon is back to the idea of lists. If items within the list have commas within them, then use the semicolon to seperate each item. You will have a semicolon and an "and" in the list that way. We visited several cites: Portland, ME; Boston, MA; Providence, RI; and Hartord, CT.

Re: organize a trip

Mr Wordy — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:00:17 GMT

You have problems with spacing around punctuation, and you have spurious double spaces in a number of places. I have corrected these below.

The other changes that I made to the date formats are not because what you had was wrong, but just to make them all consistent.

Dear colleagues,

This year the company is to organize a vacation trip for all employees to Mui Ne Beach, about 200 km ~~away~~ ["away" is not necessarily wrong, but I think the sentence reads better without it] from the city center. Those who would like to join the trip should register with Miss Perry by February 15, 2008.

The trip is scheduled to leave for Mui Ne Beach [comma deleted] on July 15, 2008 and ~~come back~~ return ["come back" is not wrong, but I think "return" is better] to the city on March 5, 2008. [The return date is earlier than the departure date!]

Thank you in advance.

Re: Punctuation-commas and so on

Mister Micawber — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:42:14 GMT

.
It requires a comma in order to subordinate the second 'and'. My remark is not contradicted by the guidelines you quote (which I heartily agree with). Good punctuation is not as easy to learn as you seem to think, bhikkhu.

Re: Punctuation-commas and so on

bhikkhu1991 — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:38:52 GMT

Hello Mister Micawber,

I have recently found out the rule of commas in the 'Guide to Grammar and Writing' is contradicting your remark, ' the second requires a comma between independent clauses'.

When a coordinating conjunction connects two independent clauses, it is often (but not always) accompanied by a comma:

Ulysses wants to play for UConn, but he has had trouble meeting the academic requirements.

When the two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction are nicely balanced or brief, many writers will omit the comma:

Ulysses has a great jump shot but he isn't quick on his feet.

Thank you.

With best wishes.

Punctuation(compulsory vs heavy ones)

bhikkhu1991 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:03:11 GMT

Hello,

Sentence A. How do I avoid heavy punctuation?

Sentence B. How do I distinguish obligatory punctuation from optional one, especially a comma?

Thank you.

With best wishes.

Re: Punctuation-Why no commas and so on?

Mister Micawber — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:26:18 GMT

.
Neither of the rules you suggest is absolute; both are merely guidelines. Much depends on the writer, the publishing house's punctuation rules, the complexity of the sentence, and the variety of English.