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HUBLOT Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial...
http://news.yahoo.com/student-tricked-harvard-sentenced-prison-205801211.html
The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial, and the remainder of his sentence was suspended.
- The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial...
- The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail, awaiting trial...
I would appreciate it if you could tell me which is correct? Without the comma, it seems to me that jail was awaiting trial.
The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial, and the remainder of his sentence was suspended.
- The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail awaiting trial...
- The Milton, Del., man served a month in jail, awaiting trial...
I would appreciate it if you could tell me which is correct? Without the comma, it seems to me that jail was awaiting trial.
Top answer
Hi HUBLOT, I would not use the comma in this case, and I tend to be oversensitive to ambiguity. I don't know if you're a native speaker, but to me the idea of the jail awaiting trial is so bizarre that my brain discounts it before it reaches the level of consciousness. I'd say that in general the perception of ambiguity involves interpreting the context as well as simply parsing the sentence.
- Hi HUBLOT, I would not use the comma in this case, and I tend to be oversensitive to ambiguity.
- I don't know if you're a native speaker, but to me the idea of the jail awaiting trial is so bizarre that my brain discounts it before it reaches the level of consciousness.
- I'd say that in general the perception of ambiguity involves interpreting the context as well as simply parsing the sentence.
- Best wishes, - A.
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3 Answers
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Hi HUBLOT,
I would not use the comma in this case, and I tend to be oversensitive to ambiguity.
I don't know if you're a native speaker, but to me the idea of the jail awaiting trial is so bizarre that my brain discounts it before it reaches the level of consciousness.
I'd say that in general the perception of ambiguity involves interpreting the context as
I would not use the comma in this case, and I tend to be oversensitive to ambiguity.
I don't know if you're a native speaker, but to me the idea of the jail awaiting trial is so bizarre that my brain discounts it before it reaches the level of consciousness.
I'd say that in general the perception of ambiguity involves interpreting the context as
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Without the comma, it seems to me that jail was awaiting trial.
Didn't you notice that there is no article on 'jail'? Your complaint might just be valid if it were "the/a jail awaiting trial", but not with an idiom like 'in jail'.
In any case you surely don't believe the writer was talking about a jail that was awaiting trial, do you?
Didn't you notice that there is no article on 'jail'? Your complaint might just be valid if it were "the/a jail awaiting trial", but not with an idiom like 'in jail'.
In any case you surely don't believe the writer was talking about a jail that was awaiting trial, do you?
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