0
Anonymous Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Power of a comma.
"They wrote a letter to the company, describing its advertising as intentionally misleading and inappropriate."
I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma? And isn't any chance to misunderstand these kinds of sentences among native English speakers? I think we need "a pause" to say the sentence exactly or we could misunderstand what the writer wanted to say. What do you native English speakers think? Thank you in advance.
I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma? And isn't any chance to misunderstand these kinds of sentences among native English speakers? I think we need "a pause" to say the sentence exactly or we could misunderstand what the writer wanted to say. What do you native English speakers think? Thank you in advance.
Top answer
" I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma? You hear a very slight pause. And isn't any chance to misunderstand these kinds of sentences among native English speakers?
- " I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma?
- You hear a very slight pause.
- And isn't any chance to misunderstand these kinds of sentences among native English speakers?
- I think we need "a pause" to say the sentence exactly or we could misunderstand what the writer wanted to say.
- What do you native English speakers think?
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
3 Answers
0
Hi,
"They wrote a letter to the company, describing its advertising as intentionally misleading and inappropriate."
I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma? You hear a very slight pause.
A
"They wrote a letter to the company, describing its advertising as intentionally misleading and inappropriate."
I saw this sentence in a text book and I know how to interpret it but in spoken English, how can we distinguish between a sentence with a comma and a sentence without a comma? You hear a very slight pause.
A
00
Clive What meaning do you think the customer will get?Thank you so much, and I know that there is a meaning difference between defining relative clauses and non defining relative clauses. So we might think "describing~" modifies "a letter" if there is no comma or a pause. I am sure that the sentence can be rewritten as "They wrote a letter to the company,
00
Hi,
I think a native speaker is likely to see 'describing its advertising as intentionally misleading and inappropriate' as describing 'a letter'.
Even if it is instead taken as adverbial, modifying 'wrote',. is there really much difference in the overall meaning?
I think a native speaker is likely to see 'describing its advertising as intentionally misleading and inappropriate' as describing 'a letter'.
Even if it is instead taken as adverbial, modifying 'wrote',. is there really much difference in the overall meaning?
0
Related Questions