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Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Comma after perhaps.
Hi,
Please, why there is no comma after "perhaps" in the following sentences? Isn't it an introductory word?
"Perhaps the most annoying moments in the news hour are the little moments of conviviality and chit-chat between members of the news team, the little asides of mutual congratulation and gratitude and commiseration (with the various victims in the day's news) that are supposed to make us see how wonderfully human the newscasters are."
The sentences are taken from "http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu."
Thanks.
Please, why there is no comma after "perhaps" in the following sentences? Isn't it an introductory word?
"Perhaps the most annoying moments in the news hour are the little moments of conviviality and chit-chat between members of the news team, the little asides of mutual congratulation and gratitude and commiseration (with the various victims in the day's news) that are supposed to make us see how wonderfully human the newscasters are."
The sentences are taken from "http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu."
Thanks.
Top answer
lost man Isn't it an introductory word? Not really. It applies to "most annoying", and not to the whole sentence.
- lost man Isn't it an introductory word?
- Not really.
- It applies to "most annoying", and not to the whole sentence.
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3 Answers
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lost man Isn't it an introductory word?Not really. It applies to "most annoying", and not to the whole sentence.
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With a comma, perhaps would modify the entire sentence and change the meaning. This is called a disjunct or sentence adverb.
The word perhaps is never followed by a comma, except in the rare case that it should follow a parenthetical element. I can't throw a rule at you as to why this is so, though the reason may be that it's a flat adverb, i.e., it doesn't end in -ly
The word perhaps is never followed by a comma, except in the rare case that it should follow a parenthetical element. I can't throw a rule at you as to why this is so, though the reason may be that it's a flat adverb, i.e., it doesn't end in -ly
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