Search results for 'tag:Commas tag:Sentence structures' matching tags 'Commas' and 'Sentence structures'

Re: please correct this sentences

Clive — Sun, 18 May 2008 04:51:58 GMT

Hi,

I think the reason you have not had any replies is that youhave a lot of problems here.

I can understand most of your sentences, but your grammar and sentence structure needs improvement. I suggest you begin by improving your punctuation. You need to treplace all the sequences of 3 dots by periods and commas.

What does this mean? Your looking is nice bald which is black shine... he... And this? My questnet is good progress

Post again with corrections and clarifications, and I'll have another look at other parts of this, OK?

Best wishes, Clive

Re: On the use of "by" and on the use of commas

Mister Micawber — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:46:14 GMT

.
1-- No, I don't see that by is necessary.
2-- Style guides can vary somewhat, but according to mine, namely, that is, for example, i.e. and e.g. are all followed by a comma and preceded by some kind of punctuation (comma, semicolon, parenthesis, etc.) depending on the sentence structure.

Re: dash

Mister Micawber — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:54:11 GMT

.
Justified? Well, all I can say is that they work OK in your examples. M-dashes are a relatively informal but increasingly popular-- and rather vague-- connective punctuation. They are used "to denote a sudden break in thought that causes an abrupt change in sentence structure." [Chicago Manual of Style]. They usually replace parentheses, but can also subsitute-- in some cases-- for colons and commas.

Re: Sentence structure and word usage

Philip — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:22:45 GMT

I have no idea what you're talking about , but your comma is fine; you probably want 'stimulating' instead of 'stimulates'.

Sentence structure and word usage

Kristar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:10:44 GMT

Is following sentence grammatically correct and is it correct to use thus after the comma.

Previous study has demonstrated GPR30 to be GÎ±_s coupled, thus stimulates adenylate cyclase and production of cAMP.

Thanks in advance

Re: A question about commas

Creativeguru — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:34:19 GMT

Hi Clive I do agree with you but i need little clarification regarding the following

'He was friends with two American Presidents, Kennedy and Nixon'. Here, it's true that a comma after 'Kennedy' would completely change the meaning.

I do agree now consider the folllowing

'He was friends with two American Presidents, Kennedy, Nixon, & a British Prime ministre Tony Bliar.

Is the above sentence structure is right?

(Unknown 22884)OHHH I FINALLY CAN POST!!!

Jen001 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 01:51:40 GMT

"The Change of the Characteristics in the passage from The Hours"

The passage from the novel The Hours by Michael Cunningham is intriguing. The passage illustrates the difference between the character's characteristics in different time settings: past and present. This difference is clearly shown through the contrasting structure, imagery and language.

The structure reflects the division of the time setting and helps to contrast the different characteristics. The passage has two paragraphs, each describing the character's thoughts and perception about a same place, of the past and present. The length of each paragraph is different; the one from the past is much longer than the other one from the present. This can be related to each of the paragraph's sentence construction. In the first paragraph, about the past, the lengths of the sentences are very long. The first sentence takes eight lines, lengthened continuously within commas, semi-colons and colons. In fact, in one sentence, there are five commas, five semi-colons and a colon. This overly-continued sentence gives a sense of unfiltered, informal, and unrestricted flowing of thoughts. Moreover, the use of brackets, âsome sort of wood(cedar? Camphor?),â seems to be less sophisticated, compared to using dashes or other punctuations of the same function. However, in the second paragraph of the present, the sentence construction is shown contrastingly. The paragraph starts with a short simple sentence: âShe turns down Bleecker, goes up Thomson.â Also, in this paragraph, there are four sentences in six lines, and three of the four sentences are written in simple sentence, including the example above. Although there are a few commas in some of the sentences, there is no semi-colon, but only a colon in the last sentence. The colon is used in a very appropriate way, functioning to introduce the list of âthingsâ, such as âjewelryâ and âjackets.â Thus, within the brief and concise sentence construction, the character in the present appears to be more mature, filtered and sophisticated than in the past. However, as a result of that, the sense of youthful, unfiltered freedom cannot be found anymore in the present.

In addition to the structure, the contrasting imagery of each paragraph demonstrates further differences of the characteristic in the past and present. As both paragraphs are of the same setting, the image of the same place is described at each time. So, the consistent place makes the comparison between the two more distinctive and reliable. The imagery of the place is very vivid in the past, not only within the visual sense, but also within the auditory and olfactory senses, whereas that of the past only relies on the sense of sight. For example, in the past, âthe neighborhoodâ is depicted as âthe center of something new and wildâ in âthe city where the sound of guitars drifted all nightâ and âwhere the stores â¦ smelled the way â¦ Arab bazaars must smell.â This is detail, imaginative and lively, even the âArab bazaarsâ creates a somewhat mystical and adventurous atmosphere. This interesting and passionate depiction is being minimized in the present into three words: an âimitation of itself.â It is now âa watered-down carnival for tourists,â which gives a sense of inactivity and boredom. Also, the stores now âall sell essentially the same things,â such as âsouvenir T-shirts.â This seems to be dull, with no excitement or creativity or passion. This changed imagery, depicted by the character, rather shows the change in the character's perception. The change in perception is demonstrated more clearly within the notion of the âdoorâ and âalley.â In the past, she says, âif you passed through the wrong door or down the wrong alley you would meet a fate,â however, in the present, she âknows that behind these doors, and down these alleys lies nothing more or less than people living their lives.â In the past, she seems to be more concerned with the 'inner' world of thought or imagination. Whereas in the present, she seems to be more grounded in the external world of physical reality. As like the previously discussed change in the sentence structure, she is now more sophisticated, knowledgeable and realistic than the past. Also, as like the image of the place, her perception changed from the creative, interesting and adventurous to the boring, predictable and filtered way. Thus, the contrasting imagery of the past and present reflects the similar change in the character's perception.

While the structure and the imagery convey the distinctive change in the characteristics of the character, the contrasting use of language supports those differences. More specifically, the diction [dash]shown in the past and the present[dash] is comparable. Reflecting the imagery of the varied senses, the words and expressions used in the past are also varied and animated, such as âincense and richâ and âdung-y dustâ describing the smell of the stores. These two expressions, âincense and richâ and âdung-y dustâ are contrasting; they express the diversity of the object. Moreover, the speaker creates a non-existing adjective, âdung-y.â The extra adding of â-yâ grants a more animated image, and it gives a sense of freedom and even somewhat childishness. The âsmellâ is then described as âsomething fruitily, fertilely rotting.â Again, she creates a non-existing adverb, âfruitily,â expressing the scent rather vividly, which would be sour as it ârots.â The other adverb âfertilelyâ contributes to create a sense of abundance and richness of the imagery. However, the use of those two positive adverbs, modifying the negative verb ârottingâ seems to be oxymoron in âfruit[full]â or âfertile,â as well as the use of adjective âdisreputable,â following ânew and wild.â The oxymoron adds an unpredictable sense to the imagery and hence to the depicter's thoughts. On the other hand, in the present, the adjectives used to describe the âcityâ and the âstores,â are ânothing,â âless,â âsame,â and âstill.â All of them are negative and reflect the boredom, dullness and hopelessness. More significantly, the speaker uses the adverb, âGrotesquelyâ before describing how âthe same bars and coffeehouses are still [th]ereâ, showing the character's cynical characteristic. So does the use of the adjective âcheapâ for the goods at the stores. Thus, in the past, the character uses language interestingly [dash] it is diverse, lively and creative [dash] whereas that of the past is inactive, hopeless and cynical. These differences are directly reflecting the character's contrasting, changed characteristic.

The change of the characteristic seems to be abrupt. As a cause, something would have happened to her, that is not shown in the passage. However, an assumption can be drawn within the evidences from the passage. There is a shift in the first paragraph within âHere,â showing the shifted tense from the past to the past perfect. In the past perfect, there is a scene of Clarissa, the major character, and her boyfriend Richard. She seems to appreciate Richard a lot, for example, she does not use the pronoun 'he' for âRichard,â even though he is the only male character. So, in a sentence, Richard is successively repeated three times, âwith Richard, when Richard â¦ when Richard.â Moreover, she describes his appearance in detail; he âwas nineteen,â âa firm-featured, hard-eyed, not-quite-beautiful dark-haired boy with an impossibly long and graceful, very pale neck.â So, to describe Richard, she combines an adjective and a noun to create a single adjective, such as âhard-eyed.â This shows her seriousness about describing him precisely. His âimpossibly longâ and âvery paleâ neck would seem negative, if not for the complementary adjective âgraceful.â Also, the adverb âimpossiblyâ gives a sense of special and unusual feeling for the person. Besides the use of language, the use of punctuation should also be noted. There are many commas, causing the sentences to seem choppy. This would be imitating the feeling of uncertainty and the tension in the situation. The uncertainty of the situation is shown in the line, ââ¦about what? A kiss? Had Richard kissed her, or had she, Clarissaâ¦,â also the tension created as they âhad certainly argued.â Then, the reason for the âargu[ment]â is explained: âClarissa wanted her freedom and Richard wanted, well, too much.â It is notable that as Richard âwanted â¦ too muchâ relating to the âkiss,â the pronoun 'he' is used as âdidn't he always?â In this case, however, the pronoun 'he' seems to more likely indicate every 'man', rather than particularly âRichard.â Thereafter the paragraph ends, and the paragraph of the present starts. It is not sure whether the abrupt change in Clarissa's characteristic is due to âRichardâ or not. Although it is not, it is evident that Clarissa once considered and cared about him quite specially.

Despite of the uncertain reason, the change in the Clarissa's characteristic from the past to the present is shown clearly throughout the contrasting structure, imagery and language. The characteristic includes the thoughts and perception, which were unrestricted, unfiltered, creative and animated in the past; whereas in the present, they are shown restricted, filtered, dull and inactive. The change is extreme, but no particular evidence for the extremity is being suggested, except the short scene with Richard. Thus, this passage not only introduces the setting and the character, but also evokes the reader's curiosity: What has happened to Clarissa?

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I really really really appreciate for your help... Thank you..!

Microsoft word spell check is crazy... or am I?

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:59:10 GMT

so I was typing up a paper for school and i got one of those little squiggly things over a comma. and it suggestion was instead of one, they said I should do two like this: ",," I guessing that my sentence structure is wacky, but has anyone heard of this? or is there a case where one would use this? Thanks

Re: Complicated Comma Usage

Commascommascommas — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 11:20:51 GMT

And, as for the second sentence, I'd like to keep the sentence structure as it was. Can I really get rid of the comma before the 'yet'?

All the stories come from television, glimpses into an unfamiliar yet pervasive western tradition.

Re: participle phrase

Goodman — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 19:50:31 GMT

Chrismlangan wrote:

The following sentences and explanation was found from a respected grammar website. â¦ Iâm curious about sentence number two because it seems to me like there should be no comma. Is the comma only necessary if the information is considered nonessential?

If a participial phrase comes at the end of a sentence, a comma usually precedes the phrase if it modifies an earlier word in the sentence but not if the phrase directly follows the word it modifies.

1) The local residents often saw Ken wandering through the streets.

2) I was irritated by Bill, constantly interrupting.

Hi,

With this kind of sentence structure, comma is not needed. i.e. I heard someone walking upstairs last night.

I heard someone in the middle of the night (doing what?) walking / arguing/ singing upstair/ - participle clause describing the act.

For # 2, which is an entirely different sentence structure, I would just say: I was irritated by Bill's constant interruption. When we use "by" in the passive structure, the "ing" form of a verb becomes a gerrund/ noun and not a partciple.