For want of a Comma
- Thread starter Quid est Veritas?
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- Jul 10, 2016
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I didn't understand this. But think it is because the first is a declaration to tinker that it is hot. The second is a declaration that tinker is hot... I think he was being optimistic.
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yeshuaslavejeff
simple truth, martyr, disciple of Yahshua
Dirk, outside it is hot. // Dirk, outside is hot.
WOW! Dirk is hot ! (friends (potentially) of Dirk saying)// Dirk outside is hot!
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- Sep 19, 2015
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These grammar rules are strict! Next thing I know @gennypearl will be telling me that it’s incorrect to use 9 consecutive exclamation points!!!!!!!!!
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yeshuaslavejeff
simple truth, martyr, disciple of Yahshua
caught you ! About 194,000,000 results (0.53 seconds) (when to spell a number)
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Whether to use a numeral or to spell out a number as a word is a matter of style. For general writing,
most guides agree that you should use words for the numbers one through nine
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- Sep 19, 2015
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I think that the only way I’ll truly learn my lesson is that for every grammar error that I make from now on I must PayPal $1 to @LaSorcia, does that sound reasonable to everyone?
About 194,000,000 results (0.53 seconds) (when to spell a number)
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Featured snippet from the web
Whether to use a numeral or to spell out a number as a word is a matter of style. For general writing,
most guides agree that you should use words for the numbers one through nine
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yeshuaslavejeff
simple truth, martyr, disciple of Yahshua
(oh, seriously though - due to some copyright (or copywrong) laws, and usages of public domain official legal names , and other secret reasons . (like web-crawlers/ sphyders/ search engines/ ai ) . alternate characters are sometimes useful to avoid unwanted legal type attention, etc etc et al ad nauseum ipso facto ala-mode ..... )
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- Sep 19, 2015
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Hey so check this out, I read a sentence last night and it immediately made me think of this thread. Look how this 2nd sentence can be read two different ways, this was from my Luke commentary...
“The most central argument is that the eschatological discourses (Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24) assume a post-70 date. These texts detail the seige and focus on the city, rather than on the temple alone, as the accounts in Matthew and Mark do.”
If you weren’t familiar with all 3 synoptics what would that last comma mean? It could look confusing to a lot of people between “As does Matthew and Mark” or “As opposed to Matthew and Mark”?
“The most central argument is that the eschatological discourses (Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-24) assume a post-70 date. These texts detail the seige and focus on the city, rather than on the temple alone, as the accounts in Matthew and Mark do.”
If you weren’t familiar with all 3 synoptics what would that last comma mean? It could look confusing to a lot of people between “As does Matthew and Mark” or “As opposed to Matthew and Mark”?
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I think as written, I'd interpret it as "as does Matthew and Mark". The phrase set apart with the commas as a side remark. IOW, you could write the sentence as "These texts detail the seige and focus on the city as the accounts in Matthew and Mark do."
That said, I don't know why the phrase would be included unless it meant "as opposed to". I think it is likely a mistake and should read: These texts detail the seige and focus on the city rather than on the temple alone as the accounts in Matthew and Mark do.
Note the lack of commas.
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- Sep 19, 2015
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I was never good at grammar but I do remember that something placed in between commas is like in between parentheses, that you can act like it’s optional and read the sentence without it. But I realized how ambiguous it could look to a lot of people.
The commentary is a more technical one and he says from the introduction that he will be comparing Luke to Mark and Matthew quite often.
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A bigger problem here is that the word 'siege' is misspelled.
However, that sentence is a comma splice. The problem isn't the second comma, but the first - which should be a semicolon.
It should read: These texts detail the siege and focus on the city; rather than on the temple alone, as the accounts in Matthew and Mark do.
A comma splice is admissible in informal situations, but certainly has no place in a formal commentary. In this case especially, as it impacts the intelligibility of the sentence.
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You can't just ommit punctuation when you are unsure how the sentence should be parsed. This did nothing to its ambiguity, but merely made it even sloppier. The first part of the sentence is a clear independant clause, so some form of punctuation must grammatically follow it in writing.
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