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

Dashes before comma-legal?

Anonymous — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:09:21 GMT

I have just learned the use of dashes; I have a question. Here is a sample text I have written where the bold portion is where my main concern exists. Is it "legal" to place dashes before a comma?

Throughout middle school, I have been proactive with friends and developing friendships with various sorts of individuals. Although I was a very timid and bashful person-not in class-, I managed to locate several interesting companions who were quite generous and outgoing persons .

In addition, can someone please quickly scan my two sentences and see if there are any grammatical errors?

Thank you.

Re: It is just as well

Angliholic — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 15:27:28 GMT

Yankee wrote:
Angliholic wrote:

For the sake of using it right, I'll make a few more sentences in the following. Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks.

It's just as well that I didn't sign up for the trip, because ~~it'll~~ it's going to/it's supposed to rain tomorrow.

It was just as well that I drove ~~my car~~ home, because it rained cats and dogs on my way ~~home~~.

It was ~~just as well~~ fortunate that we were out in the open ~~air~~ when the violent earhtquake struck Formosa.

Hi Angliholic
I've added some commas and suggested a few changes. I'd prefer a word such as 'fortunate' in your last sentence.

Thanks, Amy, for the correction.

By the way, is there something wrong with "just as well" in the last sample? For me, fortunate, lucky, and just as well are synonymous, so I can't figure out why you prefer "fortunate" in that context. Is there a specific reason?

Re: comma or no comma and why?

CalifJim — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 03:51:24 GMT

No comma.

facing the door acts as an adverb of manner. It tells how the clowns stand. You wouldn't use a comma for any other adverb.

The clowns stood straight.
The clowns stood quietly.
The clowns stood facing the door.

facing is a participle. It is the present participle of the verb face. The clowns were facing the door. Note the similarity between verbs and prepositions: They both take objects.

But, as you say, it acts like a preposition -- although it is not a typical preposition.

They stood near the door.
They stood beside the door.
They stood facing the door.

There are other present participles which are used as prepositions:

Everyone is ready, including me.
I am writing to you regarding the position you advertised.
Harry said all he wanted to say concerning the matter.

So, in summary, I would say that facing the door is an adverbial participial phrase in your sample sentence.

CJ

Re: Do I need a comma before all quotes?

GL2 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:27:06 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

Hello,

I am just trying to find out if you put a comma before all quotes????

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the EHR is, âa longitudinal collection of patient-centric healthcare information available across providers, care settings, and time. It is a central component of an integrated health information system.â NIST believes, "a personâs medical information is scattered among various providers who most often store it in thick paper files. Although pieces of this overall record may be in electronic format, they are probably located on different, incompatible health information systems. There is no coordinated, standardized system that integrates a personâs medical information within and across care settings. EHRs and EHR systems can provide this capability.â

The following text is from Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers (Second Edition):

Use a comma to set off quoted words from short explanations in the same sentence. This rule holds whether the explanatory words come before, between, or after the quoted words. Examples:

"My love is a fever," said William Shakespeare about love's passion.

"I love no love," procalimed poet Mary Coleridge, "but thee."

This use of commas is especially important in communicating conversations or other direct discourse. Explanatory words like she said, they replied, and he answered are called speaker tags, and they are always set off from immediately following words of direct discourse...

When explanatory words have that just before the quoted words, however, do no use a comma after that. Example:

Shakespeare also wrote that "Love's not Time's fool."

Shaw quipped that "Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else."

Sometimes conversation is conveyed through indirect discourse. The writer does not use direct quotation but instead paraphrases material. Do not use a comma after that in indirect discourse. Example:

Shakespeare also wrote that people should be true to themselves.

Exceptions...

If you have made quoted words part of the structure of your own sentence, do not capitalize the first quoted word, and do not set them off with a comma. Example:

Mrs. Saintonge says that when students visit a country whose language they are trying to learn, they "absorb a good accent with the food."

Winking, she encouraged me to try "very speedy persistence."

~~~

Applying these rules to your sample paragraph above, I would not use the two commas that I've highlighted in red above.

Re: Dangling participle: which type is more acceptable?

Yankee — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:27:13 GMT

Teleostomi wrote:
(2) SVM, (participle) [M=modifier]
(1) (participle), SVM.

Which type is higher in acceptability than the other?

(1) ...(I couldn't think of an example!)
(2) She met a girl, carrying a basked full of fruits.

(Is 2 really an example of a dangling participle?)

Hi Teleostomi

I changed the numbers at the beginning of your post because the patterns did not match the sample sentence you wrote.

You should try to avoid dangling participles because they can be confusing.
Native speakers do create sentences with dangling participles -- especially in spoken English. Although the intended meaning of a dangling participle may often be clear, you should nevertheless avoid using them.

In your second sentence, I would say that without a comma, "carrying a basked full of fruits" would clearly refer to 'a girl'. With a comma "carrying a basked full of fruits" is apparently supposed to refer to 'she'. However, even with the comma, it sounds like it is 'the girl' who is carrying the basket. I would recommend rewriting the sentence.

An example of a dangling participle (modifier) at the beginning of a sentence would be this:

Barking furiously, Jane ran away from the dog.
(This sentence means that Jane was barking furiously as she ran away from the dog.)

Have a look at the following site for some additional information on dangling modifiers:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_dangmod.html

Re: Tips for getting fast and full responses (from me)

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:31:53 GMT

Dear John.... no, I am not breaking up with you! No, seriously, I have a rather large problem. I have been a court reporter for almost 30 years; unfortunately, I have been forced to retire. I am now doing some freelance work for another company and, in the past, I was used to being my own boss. Much to my chagrine, I had my transcript "edited" and I feel it is full of errors. Could you please give me your opinion and reasoning so that I can have a valid argument to support my argument. She puts a semi-colon after any statement that is followed by "is that correct" or "is that right". I put a comma in that situation.

My sentence sample:

You were in the park, is that correct?

You were in the park, is that right?

She puts:

You were in the park; is that correct?

You were in the park; is that right?

I have never seen the semi-colon used like this, please advise.

Thank you!

Holly Glenn

Re: How to use "and"

Aperisic — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:00:55 GMT

Mister Micawber wrote:

Semicolon is used, besides else, to separate

two sentences that are closely related
complex items in the list

This information is right, Aperisic; however, in your--

I was in the house number 21, 32 and 45; and the garages, patios and windows were all destroyed by the earthquake.

-- semicolons should not used with conjunctions; they are used instead of conjunctions. The following is OK:

I was in house numbers 21, 32 and 45; the garages, patios and windows were all destroyed by the earthquake.

The following is wrong because-- unless it is a list with internal commas-- an independent clause must be on each side of the semicolon:

Gold, silver and platinum coins; and rings, bracelets and brooches made of these materials must pass through the customs.

The above is not a list (which requires at least 3 items-- you have only two, A and B below), so it needs to read:
(A) Gold, silver and platinum coins and (B) rings, bracelets and brooches made of these materials must pass through the customs.

But-- as we are all trying to accomplish-- the awkward and after coins can be replaced (according to my perception, at least) by as well as. I think there are some other good suggestions earlier in the thread as well.

I know what you want to say and I agree, but I repeat that there is possibly no other way to separate two and's in case where, for some reason, they appear one after another.

In this case

I was in the house number 21, 32 and 45; and the garages, patios and windows were all destroyed by the earthquake.

marked and has the same function as this and

I was in the house, and I found nobody there.

not as in this one

I was in the house and in the cellar, but I found nobody there.

Now, you probably think why anyone would use two successive and's, if you can use something else. I don't know, I just think what I would do if someone would insist on it, nothing else. (Maybe in a poem...)

At first when I read the initial question, I understood literally that we must connect those items with successive and's and I gave the answer, then I said what to do if two and's are changed as you all did. And whatever anyone of you say, I will not change my claim.

The semicolon is possible in this situation, if you really don't want to give up having two consecutive and's (and I agree that what you get with a semicolon is clumsy; that is why I gave the other options), but as with a semicolon always is, you should rethink whether a semicolon is really the final resort you can pull out for your sentence.

If you do not consider a semicolon for the situation like this one in the initial question, then you will probably never use a semicolon. A semicolon, in essence, is a grammatical element, but far more a stylistic one.

And that is my final point (OK, with two sample lines that follow it )

Re: Parenthetical element

Aperisic — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 10:59:03 GMT

Ignorant88 wrote:

Thanks for your reply~

But example 1: "The Tigers~" and example 2: "The Red Sox~" are based on advices from Willim Strunk's Element of Style. The text states that a comma should not be placed after 'and' in example 1 and after 'but' in example 2. Of course styles differ but if one follows the rules mentioned in the Element of Style, and assuming that examples 1 and 2 are correct, what should be done for "The music teacher' example"?

Could the 'of course' be surrounded by commas because the 'and' does not connect two independent clauses, but a compound object or should I leave out commas altogether? I guess my question in general is what should I do when the 'and' does not connect two independent clauses.

Thanks~~

Of course not to forget

2) The Red Sox were leading the league at the end of May, but of course, they always do well in the spring.

I cannot defend, even within style, and I did some analysis to see if it is used and definitely - it is not used.

2 used as) The Red Sox were leading the league at the end of May, but of course they always do well in the spring.

if there is no comma after but there is no comma after course as well.

[I can't imagine that anyone could say what millions of people don't and few hundreds do as correct within more general language style.]

However be careful, my analysis could be too strong for what author wanted to say. Maybe he just gave an example how to place comma before and after but and did not care much about the rest of the sentence.

Still, regarding the style never say never, look at the excellent sample

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Re: Name and Surname

nona the brit — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 15:02:04 GMT

No, Mandy is the first name and Louise is the middle name.

In English it is usual to use given names first, then the surname. You can tell that this has been reversed in this sample by the inclusion of the comma after Cutler. When names are listed for official/recording reasons, it is usual to do it by alphabetical order on surname, and the result is something like Cutler, Mandy Louise. It is not a complete reversal of the name, the given names stay in their usual order.