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http://www.askaboutenglish.com/ Regards, Mariana On 4/10/07, Petr Hrubis <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I'm quite interested in the punctuation. In Czech, it is totally > different, so I cannot rely upon what I know from my native language. > I think I've heard that the American rules differ from the British > ones. Could somebody possibly make a summary of those differences? > Thanks a lot in advance! > > Best wishes, > > Petr > > P.S.: One example: I'd like to know, for instance, why sometimes > there's a comma before 'too' at the end of a sentence, and sometimes > not. Is that a matter of different traditions (e.g. British vs. > American) or different contexts? Thank you. > > 2007/4/10, splay <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > > Hello-- > > > > On Apr 9, 8:43 pm, "Hou Pei" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Hi, everybody > > > I read the following sentences in a newspaper but I don't think they > > > are grammatically correct. > > > Would you write me some suggestion? > > > > > > 1Their omnipresence means that their problems have stronger impact on > > > consumers than smaller firms, > > > and therefore, deserve more scrutiny. > > > My version: > > > Their omnipresence means that their problems have stronger impact on > > > consumers than smaller firms' > > > and therefore, deserve more scrutiny. > > > > You are right about the apostrophe. It's really "stronger impact ... > > than the problems of smaller firms," and that puts "firms" in what > > some call the genetive and I call the possessive case. You are also > > right about the comma. A comma is needed before "and" only when it > > introduces an independent clause, although there are cases where to > > omit it would create ambiguity or worse. This is not one of those > > cases. > > > > I would delete the other comma, too. You can't have the comma after > > "therefore" unless you have one right before it to make it > > parenthetical ("than smaller firms and, therefore, deserve"), and I > > think it's cleaner with no commas at all. One comma is wrong, anyhow. > > > > > 2They should ensure they operate ethically and without double > standards. > > > My version: > > > They should ensure they operate ethically exclusive of double > standards. > > > > Nope. Wrong word. "Exclusive of" here means that they can employ > > double standards because double standards are an exception to the > > principles of ethical operations. > > > > The sentence is faulty, though, in the way that you detected. If I had > > been the copyeditor, I'd have told him to rewrite it keeping in mind > > that double standards are unethical. Maybe, "They should ensure they > > operate ethically, without double standards." This pushes the comma > > almost to the breaking point. Some would use a colon, but I think a > > colon would be too strong. > > > > > Thank you > > > > > > Best Regards > > > Hou Pei > > > > > > > > > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Correct my English" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/correct-my-english -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
