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Joined: Dec 2000
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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If one were to gently chide a grammar nazi for ending a sentence with a preposition, should one use a comma as in "…the preposition, with which the sentence was ended" or not as in "…the preposition with which the sentence was ended"?
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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You don't want what looks like a dependent clause just dangling there.
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
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We're saying that it's a restrictive clause?
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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I am. But that's just me. Maybe, if you're not in a hurry, we should wait for others to weigh in.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'm not in a hurry. I checked out the infamous 'Churchill' quote (for which there seems to be no evidence that he ever attually® said it) and there seems to be only one of the many variants that has a comma in it. http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/churchill.htmlI was hoping to hear from Father Steve on this but he's been pretty mum lately.
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Joined: Aug 2000
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
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A bit ironic, really - Father being mum. However, on a more serious note, my grammar check (for what little it is worth ) accepts the sentence with or without a comma. Personally, I prefer it without but I think it might depend a little upon exactly what the beginnig of the sentence said, and how long it took to say. (i.e., is there a difference, from this point of view, between a simple and a complex sentence?)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If one were to gently chide a grammar nazi
Don't. It'll end in tears ;)
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Joined: Mar 2004
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newbie
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newbie
Joined: Mar 2004
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If one were to gently chide a grammar nazi ... Don't. It'll end in tears ;)Or Kristallnacht. Never in-fuehrer-ate a grammar nazi.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If a preposition is not that with which to end a sentence, then what is it for?
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