IS this sentence grammatically correct??

Question

Please tell me if this sentence is grammatically correct and how can I improve it so as to make its sense more clear.

"After hearing a string of unruly remarks about me from Gaurav, my patience finally gave out and I slapped him hard."

Thanks a lot.

Philip · Accepted Answer

Hitesh_best Please tell me if this sentence is grammatically correct and how can I improve it so as to make its sense more clear.

"After hearing a string of unruly remarks about me from Gaurav, my patience finally gave out [,] and I slapped him hard."

Thanks a lot.

I use the suggested comma when the subject changes or is repeated.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Hitesh_best "After hearing a string of unruly remarks about me from Gaurav, my patience finally gave out and I slapped him hard."

This is a typical clause equivalent of the kind one hears frequently. It is ungrammatical but the ungrammaticality doesn't hinder communication because common sense steps in and helps. The trouble with the sentence is that my patience does the hearing, not I. Of course that is impossible and consequently common sense "corrects" the intended meaning.

Cf.
After reading for a while, I went to bed. (= After I had read/had been reading for a while, I went to bed.
After listening to music for an hour, we decided to leave. (= After we had listened to music for an hour, we decided to leave.

So, your sentence would be:
After my patience had heard a string of unruly remarks about me from Gaurav, it/my patience finally gave out and I spalled him hard.

I accept your sentence as "correct" because such sentences abound in English and it is futile to object to them. However, since I am used to more exact languages, I wouldn't use your sentence in serious writing even though I might utter it in conversation. I would write:

My patience finally gave out and I slapped Gaurav hard after hearing him make a string of unruly remarks about me.
Of course one might opt for a sentence without a clause equivalent as well:
After I had heard a string of unruly remarks about me from Gaurav, my patience finally gave out and I slapped him hard.

Cheers
CB

Philip · Answer

common sense "corrects" the intended meaning.
C.B. Thanks for pointing this out. I love the way you exprssed it! I am seldom guilty of this common error myself, but I often don't catch it it others' writing. I guess I have a good deal of common sense.

Cool Breeze · Answer

Philipcommon sense "corrects" the intended meaning.
C.B. Thanks for pointing this out. I love the way you exprssed it! I am seldom guilty of this common error myself, but I often don't catch it it others' writing. I guess I have a good deal of common sense.

Hi Philip

As I said, similar clause equivalents are very common in English. Some of them are so common that they have more or less become "idioms" and no one pays any attention to them. This is one of the commonest:

"He is an excellent tennis player with an excellent serve and he seldom makes a double mistake. Having said that, his second serve could be a little faster."

= After his second servehas said that, it could be a little harder.

No one says:After saying that, his second serve could be a little faster even though the constructions are usulally interchangeable.

After saying that, he left.
After having said that, he left.
Having said that, he left.
After he had said that, he left.

The trouble is that no one knows where to draw the line. What is acceptable and what isn't? What is the actual subject in countless similar cases? In conversation no insurmountable problems occur. In legal documents and official treaties ambiguities may arise. English is not a good language for such purposes.

CB

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