Does this require punctuation to make the meaning clearer?

Question

Is the following fine without any punctuation (apart from the full stop, of course) or do the number of "and"s confuse the meaning? I am right in thinking that this is a compound object ("maths and science") mixed with a compound predicate?

"He is an expert in maths and science and approaches his work with irrepressible energy."

GPY · Accepted Answer

JJDouglasIs the following fine without any punctuation

Yes.

JJDouglas · Answer

Thank you for your reply. Would you say that all sentences constructed in this way don't need any punctuation unless there is an obvious chance of misreading?

GPY · Answer

JJDouglasWould you say that all sentences constructed in this way don't need any punctuation unless there is an obvious chance of misreading?

I think "unless there is an obvious chance of misreading" is the pertinent aspect of this. In your case the complexity is not excessive, and it can hardly be read that he is an expert in "approaches". In more complex or tricky cases a comma may be judicious.

JJDouglas · Answer

Thank you for your help.

If I could get your opinion on what would be the best option to word the following, it would be much appreciated.

Here is the sentence that I originally wrote, but I'm not too satisfied with it.

"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique and making the appropriate corrections."

I think it sounds awkward because of – and I'm sorry if I'm getting my terminology mixed up here - the two gerund phrases ("taking...and making..."), with the first one having two objects ("driving behaviour and technique").

I can't think of the best way to reword it or decide if it even needs rewording in the first place. Here are some suggestions I thought of:

"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique and then by making the appropriate corrections."

"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique, making the appropriate corrections."

"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique, then making the appropriate corrections."

Do you think any of these flow better? I know it may seem like splitting hairs, but small things like this, especially when they're centred around comma usage, really bug me.

GPY · Answer

JJDouglas"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique and making the appropriate corrections."

I think this is OK in respect of the point you are asking about. Being picky, I wonder whether "taking account of" is exactly the right meaning. Would something like "recognising" or "understanding" be better?

JJDouglas"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique and then by making the appropriate corrections."

This isn't quite right. If you want to use "then", I suggest this:

The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique and then making the appropriate corrections.

JJDouglas"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique, making the appropriate corrections."

This seems inferior.

JJDouglas"The only real way young drivers can stay safe is by taking account of any weaknesses in their driving behaviour and technique, then making the appropriate corrections."

I prefer to insert "and", as above.

Does this require punctuation to make the meaning clearer?

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