Search results for 'tag:Punctuation tag:Noun phrases' matching tags 'Punctuation' and 'Noun phrases'

Re: Bullet point list grammer

Grammar Geek — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:17:34 GMT

It is NOT true that each bullet must have a full stop, nor is it true that grammar is not important.

Here are Barbara's point for bullets:

Be consistent in each bullet
Use end punctuation in each one, or use no end punctuation on each one, but don't mix them
Make them all parallel in structure (like these, starting with a "command" verb, or all noun phrases
Leave out the's if you want to, but do it consistently
Follow other conventions of grammar, such as capitalization

Re: Comma or Colon?

Dawnstorm — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 15:11:28 GMT

1. The comma is correct; it's the convention for dialogue punctuation in fiction. I suppose this holds true for film-quotes, too.

2. Generally, there are two ways to treat "Dirty Hairy" (shouldn't this be "Dirty Harry"?):

Apposition: ...in Clint Eastwood's 1971 film, Dirty Hairy, ... (what you did with "Harry Callahan")

As head of a noun phrase: ...in the 1971 film Dirty Hairy...

Only the appositive use takes commas, but then you'd have to make one after "film" as well. This sounds strange to me.

This is how I see the subject of your sentence:

Clint Eastwood's Character, Harry Calahan, in the 1971 film Dirty Hairy = Subject.

OR

Clint Eastwood's Character, Harry Calahan, = Subject // in the 1971 film Dirty Hairy = another adverbial clause ("with... thief" is the first one)

If the former, the sentence could read like this:

With his oversized gun drawn and pointed at the head of a hapless thief, Harry Calahan, Clint Eastwood's Character in the 1971 film Dirty Hairy, uttered his famous catchphrase, "..." (Pretty much what Marius Hancu did, come to think of it, only I made Harry Calahan the subject, and the character-phrase the apposition.)

If the latter, it could read like this:

With his oversized gun drawn and pointed at the head of a hapless thief, Clint Eastwood's character, Harry Calahan, uttered, in the 1971 film Dirty Hairy, his famous catchphrase, "..." (This is so awkward, though, that I'd prefer the above version, even if the original intention was to say that Callahan uttered the phrase in Dirty Hairy, and not in any of the other "Dirty Harry" films.)

I don't think anything's wrong with the punctuation in your original sentence, though.

Re: Punctuation in academic presentations (bullet point lists)

Grammar Geek — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 13:56:43 GMT

In an essay, with only three items on the list, and all of them being quite short, I would just write them in the sentence. If the preceding part of the sentence is quite long, then use a colon. blah blah blah resulted in three areas being declared off-limits for development: x, y, and z.

With more than three or four, or if each item is quite lengthy, then use the same format as for PowerPoint. But be equally consistent in your usage! If one is a noun phrase, make them all noun phrases. If one is a sentence, make them all sentences. And so on.

I speak only "American" English, so a physical place set aside for local plants and animals to live without being disturbed is a nature reserve. I don't know about other countries' use of that phrase. (Is it possible that at least some of the others were talking more about natural resources being kept in reserve? I don't know - but I agree, over a quarter milllion uses is too high for an error.)

Re: GRAMMAR & PUNCTUATION CHECK

Clive — Thu, 01 Dec 2005 14:40:45 GMT

Hi,

I would focus on following perspectives.

(1) Analyze voluntary employee turnover, absenteeism, . . .

Would you please explain the reason for coverting the beginning verb words in to nouns?
It's because the noun 'perspective' is better followed by a noun or a noun phrase/clause. If you want to retain the verb form, I'd change 'perspectives' to a term like 'actions'.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Pronoun

Casi — Fri, 07 Jan 2005 17:52:15 GMT

Agreed, and yet, maybe it's the other way around: a false impression of a proper noun? At any rate, let's look back at the sentence taken from the New York Times:

"In a world with a million things coming at you and especially in the United States where there's no aristocratic class, . . . ."

Sans a comma is OK, but the comma is optional in that context. Place names are specifically located, and so they don't need to be redefined with restrictive information. Speakers known intuitively that if 'where' modifies a place name of the proper noun type, its function is that of a complement, be there a comma or not. Otherwise, if we assume 'where' sans a comma is an integral part of the noun phrase (i.e., restrictive), then we'd be redefining the already defined. The comma is left out because it's redundant. The proper noun says it all--no comma required. The meaning expressed by the comma is already housed inside the semantic structure of the place name.

About OneStopEnglish's observation, thank goodness we've decided not to reword it, because we'd have to send the same "memo" to Oxford Dictionary of Current English, a pocket-sized paperback, worth all of $15 US, but nevertheless states the same 'observation' as OneStopEnglish provides.

In short, I believe the observation is fine as is. On closer look, the apparent exceptions to the 'rule' don't appear to be exceptions at all, but rather related to our interpretations concerning a) punctuation, and b) what consititutes a count noun and a proper noun.

OneStopEnglish states something like, 'where' does not function as a relative adverb if the noun it modifies is a proper noun, and given our apparent exceptions:

A) . . . Boston where. . .
B) . . .the United States where. . .
C) . . .the Manchester where . . .

'where' is non-defining/non-restrictive in A) and B), the commas are left out because they are redundant, and in C), 'where' functions as an relative adverb, and rightly so. 'the' restricts 'Manchester', defining it as one of many Manchesters.

That's my take on it, and since being proven wrong is better than being proven right, I leave it to you to find the exceptions.

All the best,

Re: I think it's to early. Please help me with this comma.

jbshakes — Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:17:05 GMT

Hi,

Your sentence is grammatically correct without needing any further punctuation. It reads well and its rhythm flows naturally, although, I must concede, it is a little too long. It is the length of the sentence that makes you think you need to punctuate it further. I assure you are correct.

On the other hand, you can perfectly punctuate it to change its meaning or shift emphasis. Let me explain. As it stands now, what the sentence says is that "Excellent customer service"; "leadership skills"; "strong verbal skills"; and "written communication skills" are all noun phrases that are emphasised. They are all qualities that are very essentially required, according to the sentence.

However, if you punctuate the sentence thus:

'Excellent customer service and leadership skills, along with strong verbal and written communication skills, are required at all times'

the meaning of the sentence changes. Putting a comma before '...along...' and
after '...communication skills...' makes that whole phrase an adjunct. What this means is that all the noun phrases between the two commas ie 'strong verbal skills' and 'written communication skills' are just additional information which can be done away with. They are not the prerequiste skills needed, though it is good if one has them. They are de-emphasised.

Please note: any time you have a sentence that has the following structure: '...,together with...,' or '...,plus..., or similar syntax, the nouns within the commas indicated are de-emphasised. Thus the focus of the sentence is on the first grammatical element, which is first noun phrase.

Clearly, punctuation has a lot of impact on meaning and one has to be careful where one puts one's commas, colons and others. I am sorry if I have given an hour's lecture here, but I hope you find my explanation useful. Good luck.

jbshakes is a Senior Writer at Origin8 Advertising in Ghana, West Africa and taught English and Creative Writing at Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast, Ghana.