How do you interpret this?

Question

I have two independent clauses connected with an "and," as shown below.

I am an engineer at XXX, and AAA is my alma mater.

If I add the phrase, "as explained in my report" in the beginning and say, "As explained in my report, I am an engineer at XXX, and AAA is my alma mater.", would it mean that the clauses "I am an engineer at XXX" and "AAA is my alma mater" are both "explained in my report"?

Thank you.

Milky · Accepted Answer

RIPI have two independent clauses connected with an "and," as shown below.

I am an engineer at ***, and AAA is my alma mater.

If I add the phrase, "as explained in my report" in the beginning and say, "As explained in my report, I am an engineer at ***, and AAA is my alma mater.", would it mean that the clauses "I am an engineer at ***" and "AAA is my alma mater" are both "explained in my report"?

Thank you.

To me it would. Better to leave the alma mater info to an new sentence.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

As explained in my report, I am an engineer at ***, and AAA is my alma mater.

I'd say the phrase would qualify both clauses if you removed the comma after at ***,

Best wishes, Clive

BarbaraPA · Answer

Grammar aside, the purpose of writing is to clearly communicate with your reader. It's unwise to rely on your reader's knowledge of syntax to convey your meaning, so if there's a likelihood that the meaning will not be immediately clear, then re-write.

If you really wanted to keep them together, but only the engineer was in the report, not the alma mater, use a semicolon (with no "and"). Or you could say As explained in my report, I am an engineer at ***, and I am also a graduate of AAA.

Because "AAA is my alma mater" is an independent clause, technically you should have a comma before the "and."

By the way, is there a spell check on this thing? My typing is usually faster than my brain and I see I make a lot of mistakes on my posts. Sorry about that.

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