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Eipjoo Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
If a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning?
"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.
"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor." (Harry Potter)
If a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning?
"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall - he already knew - he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor." (Harry Potter)
If a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning?
Top answer
eipjoo If a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning? No.
- eipjoo If a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning?
- No.
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3 Answers
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eipjooIf a comma were to be put before when, does it change the meaning?No.
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It's really a matter of style.
The whole sentence is written to make the reader feel that they did all this in a big hurry.
If you add a pause, it weakens that dramatic effect.
In strict terms of grammar, I'd consider starting a new se
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There are certainly two (or more) possible meanings here. They either meet him trying to contact him. Or they try to do the following: contact him when they meet him. I'm not sure the comma distinguishes them, though.
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