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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Using "then" to form a compound predicate
Okay, I am confused about this: I know that you can't use "then" as a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence, but I see it used all the time to form a compound predicate. Does anyone know why it's acceptable in one case but not the other?
(E.g. "Bob ran around the room, then Jim ate some spaghetti" is a comma splice error because it's missing "and", but for some reason "Bob ran around the room, then ate some spaghetti" is totally fine, even missing the "and." At least I am under the impression that it's fine, because I see this sort of construction in literature all the time.)
(E.g. "Bob ran around the room, then Jim ate some spaghetti" is a comma splice error because it's missing "and", but for some reason "Bob ran around the room, then ate some spaghetti" is totally fine, even missing the "and." At least I am under the impression that it's fine, because I see this sort of construction in literature all the time.)
Top answer
Hi, Okay, I am confused about this: I know that you can't use "then" as a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence, but I see it used all the time to form a compound predicate. Does anyone know why it's acceptable in one case but not the other? Perhaps because it is quicker/easier to say.
- Hi, Okay, I am confused about this: I know that you can't use "then" as a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence, but I see it used all the time to form a compound predicate.
- Does anyone know why it's acceptable in one case but not the other?
- Perhaps because it is quicker/easier to say.
- But mainly, I think is because some people do not think about the details of Englsih grammar.
- g.
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1 Answers
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Hi,
Okay, I am confused about this: I know that you can't use "then" as a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence, but I see it used all the time to form a compound predicate. Does anyone know why it's acceptable in one case but not the other? Perhaps because it is quicker/easier to say. But mainly, I think is because some people do not think about the details of Englsih gram
Okay, I am confused about this: I know that you can't use "then" as a coordinating conjunction to form a compound sentence, but I see it used all the time to form a compound predicate. Does anyone know why it's acceptable in one case but not the other? Perhaps because it is quicker/easier to say. But mainly, I think is because some people do not think about the details of Englsih gram
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