New answers tagged punctuation
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I would usually just throw in an etc. after the list to indicate that I could say more, but it would be pointless additional detail. After that you can add whatever punctuation seems appropriate.
Lawn mowers, pruners, garden trowels, watering canes, etc. -- you'll find these and many more tools in our gardening equipment shop.
I prefer the em dash, ...
1
200-mile is correct. It is a compound adjective derived from an adjective+noun phrase as in: The journey was 200 (adjective) miles (noun). Note the noun is made singular in the conversion. It is common with numbers + noun, as in a three-metre rope, a 60-kilogram rock. Addition of a postpositive adjective to these can cause confusion. As in the pool was three ...
0
You can write it:
And so he does with other solids, such as a shell, nut, plum,
pear, tadpole, mushroom, mountain peak, kidney, carrot, tree-trunk,
bird, bud, lark, ladybird, bulrush or (and) bone.
So, you need to include:
"He does," because without the verb, it's not a sentence
"Other," because you specifically mention the egg is solid, so there ...
0
This appears to be two independent clauses joined by a semicolon—making it a compound sentence. If punctuated as two separate sentences, it would look like this:
Such birds do us good, though we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that. And even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it ...
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You are correct: this is a complex sentence, not a compound one.
However, the punctuation for the sentence seems a bit iffy, and the correct punctuation would be "Such birds do us good, though we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that; even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it good-...
0
The main adjectives of the definition can be broken down as "critical, sarcastic, or ironic."
"Sharply or bitingly" are modifiers to "critical," and the prepositional phrase "in temper, mood, or tone" is a modifier to "ironic."
Formatted differently, you would read it as:
Ascerbic
sharply or bitingly critical
sarcastic
ironic in temper, mood,...
1
Understand that commas are strictly a matter of style, and that opinions about them vary. So I can only tell you what I would myself do here. I would use commas in your sentence that this way:
I am travelling to New York, California, and Venice in July, and my friend Mary suggests I should also visit Rome.
You want the serial (“Oxford”) comma before the ...
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They go back as far as the inverted "Nun" letters bracketing certain passages in the TaNa"Ch (Hebrew Scripture): Genesis 6-; Psalms 107; Numbers 10:35-36. Later scholarly readers of these ancient texts in their original ported this into their European languages, in shapes like <> and () that worked with Latin-derived letters' form.
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As written, "prior" would mean that it had improved its security before the whistle blower complained. You could say something like
The fact that the organisation had priorly improved its security, after a whistle blower's complaint in 2015, may have worked in its favour now.
Or just cut the priorly altogether;
The fact that the organisation had ...
0
I hope that this rewording will help:
Surfing was originally developed by ancient Hawaiians. It appeals to people for several reasons:
1. the sport’s unusual confluence of adrenaline, skill, and high paced manoeuvring;
2. an unpredictable backdrop that is sometimes graceful and serene, and at other times is violent and formidable; and
3. the ...
3
This is a matter of style, so it's not possible to give a definitive answer on what the correct use is. Different style guides, and different people, will use dashes in different ways.
Having said that, it's generally been the case that more British style guides will say to not use an em dash but, where US style would use an em dash, to use an en dash that'...
0
Yes, you can separate any reporting clause from direct speech or direct thoughts with a comma. Cambridge explains the rule with literally spoken words, but the same is true for thoughts and for methods of representing quotation like italics. Grammar Book gives this example:
I lied, Charles thought, but maybe she will forgive me.
Even without italics, ...
2
They wanted to reduce bugs, blue screens, and viruses.
They wanted to decrease the amount of bugs, blue screens, and viruses.
3
“The not-so-secret secret to weight loss.” In this case, “not-so-secret” is the adjective describing the “secret to weight loss.” No commas.
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The above sentence should be like:
The not so secret, "secret to weight loss".
1
I was wondering whether a dash should be written in MLA as two keyboard "minus signs" aka hyphens (--) or use the actual special character for a dash, typed on Mac with alt + minus sign/hyphen (–).
A dash should be written as an actual dash, but the usage of two hyphens to approximate it goes back to the typewriter era and is so common that has its own ...
-1
MLA Style uses both en-dashes (which is the special dash character you're talking about) and hyphens:
Compound adjectives are hyphenated, for example pre-gold-rush
Unless the term is a proper noun, for example post–Industrial, or England–obsessed
However adjective verb compounds ending in -ed remain open: vanilla flavored
Ranges are hyphenated: pages 50-111
...
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For my project I need to write the initials DMRD which stands for discipline, maturity, Remember Death
First off, you don't need those initials. In fact, you need to not use them. A series should have terms with identical grammatical roles. It shouldn't have two nouns and a verb phrase.
Second, even though Discipline, Maturity, & Remembering Death or ...
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