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HSS Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Long Sentence

0Could anyone please help me? This sentence is too long for me.02br
02br
00"Louise hoped Peter's day had positively sucked, 01font00for hadn't he ruined hers with his offhand comment02font00, and the possibility of his proving itself true, Peter's day sucking, didn't feel so very farfetched, for Louise guessed with the certainty of a champion that Peter wasn't getting laid any more than she was."02br
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00This is about a woman, Louise, who divorced Peter, a high-visibility professor. I just don't see the functionality of the "for hadn't ... comment" clause.02br
02br
00Hiro0-
  

Top answer

0 This is a rhetorical question: 02br 02br 01i 00... 01b 00for/because02b 00 02i 01font 01i 00hadn't he ruined hers with his offhand comment? 02i 02br 02br 00asking for confirmation from the reader.

  • 0 This is a rhetorical question: 02br 02br 01i 00...
  • 01b 00for/because02b 00 02i 01font 01i 00hadn't he ruined hers with his offhand comment?
  • 02i 02br 02br 00asking for confirmation from the reader.
  • 02br 02br 02font 00 0-
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4 Answers
0
0 This is a rhetorical question: 02br
02br
01i00... 01b00for/because02b00 02i01font01i00hadn't he ruined hers with his offhand comment? 02i02br
02br
00asking for confirmation from the reader. 02br
02br
02font
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0Then doesn't the author need to place a question mark here, stop the sentence and pick it up with another? Wouldn't it be better?02br
02br
00Hiro0-
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0 Not necessarily, he does it implicitly. 0-
0
0Oh, I see, Marius.02br
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00I unknowingly omitted "in the moment" in the sentence. Normally "moment" is with "at." How would you say "in the moment"? Why "in"?02br
02br
00" ... for Louise guessed with the certainty of a champion that Peter wasn't getting laid any more 01font00in the moment02font00 than she wa

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