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Vkrajan510 Posted 16 years ago
What ever the case might be, I think that in both the sentences highlighted above in red, a semi-colon must be used; not a comma. Otherwise, the 'comma splice' error occurs. So the warning must be 'a semi-colon can killl a man'. Am I right?
Grammar
Grammar
Comma splice
I have often heard the warning that 'a comma can kill man' substantiated by a tale that a judge wanted to set a man free and pronounced 'hang him not, let him leave" which was wrongly written down as 'hang him, not let him leave", leading to the man's execution.What ever the case might be, I think that in both the sentences highlighted above in red, a semi-colon must be used; not a comma. Otherwise, the 'comma splice' error occurs. So the warning must be 'a semi-colon can killl a man'. Am I right?
Top answer
Yes, semicolons are required here. Also note that "hang him not" is an archaic form of the negative mood, and I don't know what to make of "not let him leave", which should be "let him leave not" in the same style. )
- Yes, semicolons are required here.
- Also note that "hang him not" is an archaic form of the negative mood, and I don't know what to make of "not let him leave", which should be "let him leave not" in the same style.
- )
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1 Answers
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Yes, semicolons are required here. Also note that "hang him not" is an archaic form of the negative mood, and I don't know what to make of "not let him leave", which should be "let him leave not" in the same style. (but I may be wrong there)
Lynne Truss also has something to say about the hanged-on-a-comma story:
Lynne Truss also has something to say about the hanged-on-a-comma story:
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