18 votes

What punctuation do I use in "stage performers, their stage: the sky"?

I'd agree that it would be a good style choice to have [medium pause/break] ... [short pause/break] here. One way round this is to push the supercomma usage of the semicolon: They dance in the ...
Edwin Ashworth's user avatar
10 votes

Use of double colon (::) as a sentence separator

As a native English speaker who has been speaking and reading the language for most of my 65 years ... I am not aware of any accepted uses in ordinary writing of a double colon. (By "ordinary ...
Jay's user avatar
  • 36.2k
7 votes

What punctuation do I use in "stage performers, their stage: the sky"?

Their stage the sky is an absolute phrase. An absolute phrase has its own noun or pronoun along with a participle phrase. When the participle is a form of to be, it can be omitted (which is what’s ...
Tinfoil Hat's user avatar
  • 16.9k
4 votes

Use of double colon (::) as a sentence separator

In logic and mathematics, :: is an analogy symbolism operator.  It's used to express a correspondence or comparison, and related questions, such as: dog : puppy :: cat : ? …which is read as: “Dog is ...
gidds's user avatar
  • 2,775
3 votes

Punctuation Breakdown: Examining Commas in a Sentence

Use a pair of commas to set off parenthetical phrases (non-essential elements) in a complete sentence. In other words, non-essential elements are phrases that can be removed from the sentence and the ...
user405662's user avatar
  • 8,423
3 votes

What punctuation do I use in "stage performers, their stage: the sky"?

If you wanted a slightly different intonation: They dance in the distance like graceful stage performers. Their stage? The sky! But the alliteration of "dance in the distance" makes me ...
Andrew Morton's user avatar
3 votes
Accepted

How best to punctuate this sentence?

Your instructor’s version is incorrect; if the semicolon “super comma” is deployed, it must be used for all items: The following regions were most hit by the storms: Venezuela, or, to be more precise,...
Tinfoil Hat's user avatar
  • 16.9k
1 vote

Punctuation Breakdown: Examining Commas in a Sentence

The commas around arguably set it off because it is a nonessential adverb and serves to qualify the statement without being integral to its meaning. The last comma is there not because it precedes an ...
GrammarCop's user avatar
1 vote

Is a comma still required between "said" and a quote if no one actually says anything?

He gave me a look that said don't you dare. Why not italicize it?
Riley 's user avatar
  • 31

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