Correct usage.

Question

To bear witness to the death, without being broken by the weight of itCan you say 'to bear witness to the death' or is this sort of poetic usage? Does it work as a complete sentence?He won the lottery, plus he received his parents' inheritance.He lost all his money at the pools, hence this is  reason he is living on the street.Are plus/hence subordinate markers or do they require new sentences ?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

panda blue 483
To bear witness to the death, without being broken by the weight of it
Can you say 'to bear witness to the death' [Yes.] or is this sort of poetic usage? [It's somewhat poetic in my judgment. Yes. Re "or": This isn't an either-or.] Does it work as a complete sentence? [No. It's just an infinitive phrase. There's no main verb.]

panda blue 483He won the lottery, plus he received his parents' inheritance.

If you look at printed material, the usual punctuation is

He won the lottery. Plus, he received his parents' inheritance.

panda blue 483He lost all his money at the pools, hence this is reason he is living on the street.

'hence' means 'this is the reason', so it makes no sense to write one and then the other.

The most conservative sources give the following as the correct punctuation:

He lost all his money at the pools; hence, he is living on the street.

You will find other options that relax the rules somewhat.

He lost all his money at the pools; hence he is living on the street.
He lost all his money at the pools. Hence, he is living on the street.
He lost all his money at the pools. Hence he is living on the street.

However, I don't see examples with just a comma, as you have done. That format is reserved for conjunctions like 'and', 'but', and 'or'.

CJ

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