Tagged Questions

0
votes
2answers
52 views

Correct punctuation with two nouns? [duplicate]

There's an old play on words that goes like so: Grammar: The difference between helping your uncle Jack off a horse, and helping your uncle jack off a horse. I've been told that it should ...
0
votes
3answers
97 views

Would you use a period after text: Thank you for helping to build the new building

My boss told me that I shouldn't have a period after the text: Thank you for helping to build the new building. She said that it is not a complete sentence.
1
vote
2answers
162 views

What is the grammatical construct using present progressive in relative clauses called?

When I learned this, it had a very distinctive name and allowed to make more interesting sentences. For instance, given the sentence Fred extended his feet, which stopped the car. It can be ...
15
votes
3answers
426 views

You don't want to answer this word-placement question, now do you?

Prompted by this question I got to thinking about the placement of the word now. If it's placed before the comma, it refers to an immediate condition: You don't want to answer this word-placement ...
0
votes
0answers
58 views

Why are some words put in […] rather than without them? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What is the proper use of [square brackets] in quotes? I have come across articles, interviews, quotes etc., where a singular word in put in the box bracket. Here is a ...
0
votes
0answers
37 views

Proper punctuation of “three to five page essay” [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How to write dashes in “a 2-4-room-apartment”? Which is the best way to write the quotation in the Question Title using numbers? 3–5-page essay 3 to 5-page essay 3–5 ...
4
votes
1answer
188 views

Why is the comma inside quotation marks when people are quoted? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: When should end punctuation go inside quotes? From a AMS blog post: Some organizations have temporarily suspended their polling, and with the news media tabbing ...
1
vote
3answers
148 views

Proper format for listing criteria for a project

My team are going back and forth between the proper usage of a specific sentence in our project proposal. This project proposal is being presented to a school, so we want to make sure we are correct ...
2
votes
2answers
673 views

If “whenever possible” is in the middle of a sentence, does it need to be preceded by a comma? [closed]

The sentence in question is "We believe that the best way to think about the mentor-mentee realtionship is to remember that whenever possible, all adults in a child's life should act as a team.  It ...
3
votes
2answers
158 views

Quotation mark usage in the sentence given

A leading article in Britain's Independent newspaper has the following (my emphasis): It is also evident, albeit in a different form, in the Global Investment Summit that opened on Thursday with a ...
1
vote
1answer
116 views

What is the correct punctuation to use in this case?

If I have a sentence like: The royal family is extremely rich: The sled that pulls the princess is shaped like a golden swan, the celebrations last 3 days, and the bride and groom walk under a ...
-2
votes
2answers
123 views

Can I omit a colon and use a comma instead in this sentence to dramatize?

original sentence -> The purpose is to disclose some information new sentence -> the purpose: to disclose some information last version(I'm asking about) -> The purpose, to disclose information
2
votes
2answers
114 views

Unions' Assassins' Guild or Union's Assassins' Guild?

Is it Unions' Assassins' Guild or Union's Assassins' Guild? If my English serves me, I think both are right but have slightly different meanings. Can someone shed some light?
1
vote
2answers
2k views

Using “and” twice in a list

About using and, I've learned it is usually used in lists, between the last two items. For example: I like movies, traveling and going out with friends. Please tell me if the use of and ...
-2
votes
1answer
1k views

Should I say “another ones” or “another one's” [closed]

Since I'm implying possession should I say another one's and your's? The book could either be yours or another ones. Is it "yours" or "your's" and "another ones" or "another one's"?
-1
votes
1answer
106 views

i would like to know how this clause as written would be interpreted [closed]

a. To be eligible for a vacation in any calendar year, an Employee must: 1) have one year or more of Continuous Service; and (2) have worked for at least 520 hours during the preceding calendar ...
1
vote
1answer
3k views

Where should I put the commas in a sentence containing “as well as”?

What is the proper way to punctuate a sentence containing "as well as"? For example, in the sentence: I hope to provide students with a solid foundation in the field as well as challenge them ...
2
votes
2answers
263 views

When writing instructions, is it OK to leave “and” out of a quick chain of commands?

I'm editing a series of instructions, and I keep stumbling over this issue of whether using "and" in a chain of similar commands is necessary. From the Start menu, select All Programs, then ...
6
votes
2answers
429 views

Understanding appositives and the use of the m-dash ( — )

My understanding of a dash is that it sets off a lengthy appositive, but can also be used to introduce a summary. Consider the following passage from Stephan Jay Gould: If evolution worked ...
10
votes
5answers
431 views

Are apostrophes actually needed?

I don't mean to make it grammatically correct I mean does English need them? I can't seem to find a use case other than it's "legacy" in English, but that is never a reason to keep something around. ...
7
votes
7answers
884 views

Correct comma use with “but” and “that”

Compare these 3 sentences: Both are based on librsync, but above that they behave quite differently. Both are based on librsync, but above that, they behave quite differently. Both are ...
4
votes
2answers
252 views

What's the correct apostrophe usage in this case?

I just wrote a response on a meta Stack Exchange site to a question about tag usage and purpose. In that response, I found myself writing the following: I hesitate to argue for the tag's (and ...
3
votes
3answers
800 views

Exclamation marks in the middle of a sentence

Would this usage of exclamation mark be correct? I want to — honest! — give you a slap! Yes, I know, it's a quite bad example, but I wonder if this usage of an exclamation inside a sentence is ...
2
votes
3answers
379 views

Punctuation for “then fine”

This is one of those colloquialisms that doesn't seem to translate to a complete sentence, but how would you properly punctuate and/or correct the following sentence? I'd like you to keep working, ...
1
vote
0answers
263 views

Use “a” or “an” in a sentence with parentheses? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: “a/an” preceding a parenthetical statement Should I use "a" or "an" in a sentence like this: There's just an (usually small, but) unbounded number... ...
1
vote
1answer
320 views

Are these sentences both grammatically correct?

I can no longer remember her face, too much time has passed. I can no longer remember her face; too much time has passed.
10
votes
2answers
1k views

How should lists of questions be punctuated?

If one wishes to pose a series of questions in the form of a list, how would one go about punctuating that list? For example: I write to a colleague asking for an update on a project he is working ...
2
votes
2answers
2k views

Capitalising Words in Parentheses?

Should the words inside a set of parentheses be capitalised? For example: ... usually read for personal enjoyment (Recreation) or ... or ... usually read for personal enjoyment ...
4
votes
2answers
1k views

How do I correctly use the possessive apostrophe with a parenthetical citation?

Is the apostrophe in the right place in the following sentence? Pendleton, et al. (2002)’s research implies that extension of treatment allows for greater weight loss.
0
votes
2answers
293 views

About possessive apostrophe usage! [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s? Hello! New to English, but doing fairly fine so far... well, here's a situation I had a couple times, and... well, ...
5
votes
7answers
5k views

When and how should I use multiple exclamation marks?

Now, I never do this, but in some few cases I have seen people use multiple exclamation (or question) marks like this: Hey!!! Is that grammatically correct? (Or just okay). In case it is, how ...
2
votes
1answer
639 views

“Easy to explain, here is an example for you:”

Here I present you two scenarios of mine: This can be explained very easily, with this example: example here and This can be explained very easily: example here On the first ...
4
votes
2answers
601 views

Which punctuation for definition

I have the following sentence: To this end, I first devised a novel algorithm to enumerate all possible partitions; ways of dividing a network into meaningful parts. I was told that the ...
6
votes
4answers
694 views

Is the question mark misused in affirmative sentences?

For example, I found the following sentence written by a native English speaker (UK) so I'm going to assume that he knows how to put it the right way, although I wouldn't use this form. I now have ...
4
votes
1answer
975 views

How are embedded quotations used?

How would embedded quotations be used when quoting from passages/sources within an essay? What would be the difference between normal quotations and embedded quotations?
6
votes
1answer
414 views

How do I take a partial quotation that ends with a question mark (but not within my quote)?

I am in the process of writing a paper on Shakespeare's Macbeth, and I want to take a quotation from the following passage: Which thou esteem'st the ornament of life And live a coward in thine ...
5
votes
2answers
494 views

Tending to misuse comma

I tend to misuse commas in large way. Whenever I draft a professional mail, I get engrossed in the points, and somewhere along the way I get the feeling that this sentence is too long. I then ...
13
votes
6answers
5k views

Where should the comma be placed in the salutation of a letter?

Sometimes I see a comma after the proper name: Hello Mr. Black, In order to give you.... But my native language is not English and I think that the comma in this phrase should be placed ...
14
votes
2answers
423 views

What is the correct spelling of “buyer* remorse”?

Apostrophical query: a) Buyers Remorse b) Buyer Remorse c) Buyer's Remorse d) Buyers' Remorse My guess is b or c, as it seems like any example is talking about the remorse of one specific buyer, ...