0
Garnett Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Use of the en-dash and commas

0Bit of a tricky one this:02br
02br
00I'm trying to write a story which includes a Victorian-esque advert.02br
02br
00I want to say something along the lines of:-02br
02br
01b00"A society for the benefit and education of, and pastoral contribution to, the orphaned children of London."02b02br
02br
00Basically I want to know what grammar is employed where there are verbs taking different prepositions (ie here "of" and "to")02br
02br
00Can I put:02br
01b02br
00"A society for the benefit, and education of, -and pastoral contribution to - the orphaned children of London."02b00?02br
02br
00To my mind a combination of commas and en-dash appears more Victorian, I would probably use only commas, and only using en-dashes seems rather modern, and less correct.02br
02br
00Thanks for any assistance.0-
  

Top answer

02font 01font 00 Omit the red comma02font 02br 02br 01font 00To my mind a combination of commas and en-dash appears more Victorian, I would probably use only commas, and only using en-dashes seems rather modern, and less correct. 02font 02br 02br 00Dashes were certainly used at that time (two consecutive ones). 02br 02br 00eg from 'A Tale Of Two Cities': 01font 00Charles Darnay-01del 00as was natural02del 00-asked him, in all good-humour and good-fellowship, what he did mean?

— Clive

  • 02font 01font 00 Omit the red comma02font 02br 02br 01font 00To my mind a combination of commas and en-dash appears more Victorian, I would probably use only commas, and only using en-dashes seems rather modern, and less correct.
  • 02font 02br 02br 00Dashes were certainly used at that time (two consecutive ones).
  • 02br 02br 00eg from 'A Tale Of Two Cities': 01font 00Charles Darnay-01del 00as was natural02del 00-asked him, in all good-humour and good-fellowship, what he did mean?
  • 05002br 02br 00Best wishes, Clive010id1
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
0Hi,02br
02br
01font00I'm trying to write a story which includes a Victorian-esque advert.02font02br
02br
01font00I want to say something along the lines of:-02font02br
02br
01b01font00"A society for the benefit and education of, a
0
0
0 Thanks a lot Clive. That's really helpful. I think I'll go with the double dashes!02br
02br
00Cheers.0-
0

Related Questions