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Park sang joon Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

A Parenthetical Phrase

This hideous murder accomplished, I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, to the task of concealing the body. I knew that I could not remove it from the house, either by day or by night, without the risk of being observed by the neighbors.
<Source: The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe http://poestories.com/read/blackcat>

I think "and with entire deliberation" is a parenthetical phrase; then, why is "and" used?

Thank you in advance for your help.
  

Top answer

park sang joon I think "and with entire deliberation" is a parenthetical phrase; then, why is "and" used? This is a curious question. Why do you think it's incorrect to have "and" in a parenthetical expression?

— CalifJim

  • park sang joon I think "and with entire deliberation" is a parenthetical phrase; then, why is "and" used?
  • This is a curious question.
  • Why do you think it's incorrect to have "and" in a parenthetical expression?
  • Without the "and" it's not so obvious that it's a parenthetical expression, so it seems to me that the "and" helps to emphasize that it's parenthetical.
  • CJ
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9 Answers
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park sang joonI think "and with entire deliberation" is a parenthetical phrase; then, why is "and" used?
This is a curious question. Why do you think it's incorrect to have "and" in a parenthetical expression?

Without the "and" it's not so obvious that it's a parenthetical expression, so it seems to me that the "and" helps to emphasize that it's pare
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Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your reply. Emotion: smile

Why do you think it's incorrect to have "and" in a parenthetical expression?
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park sang joonI have thought "and" has to be used in "parallel structure"
That's its usual role, but you will also find it as in your quoted example. There it's more literary.

I set myself forthwith, and with entire deliberation, ...

=
I set myself forthwith (and, by the way, I did this with entire deliberation), ...
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Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your valuable answer. Emotion: smile
Then, I will take it that "and" connects "forthwith" and "with entire deliberation
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park sang joonunlike my example, if I can use "and", but not in not a parallel structure
This implies that your example (forthwith, and with entire deliberation) has a parallel structure, but it doesn't. It's a single adverb connected to a prepositional phr
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Thank you, Mr.JIm, for your very helpful correction. Emotion: smile

For this reason, it's hard to know what kinds of examples you'
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park sang joonEven though nothing is connected by "and", can I use "and" in a parenthetical expression?
If "and" is not connected to anything, it makes no sense to use it at all. You seem to be describing this:

And.

Now we have "and", and nothing is connected by "and".
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Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your very helpful answer. Emotion: smile

You mean "and" always connects something.
Do you
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park sang joonDo you mean two or more parts by "something"?
Yes. More explicitly, "connects something to something else".

CJ
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