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Eddie88 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Verb phrase
Someone wrote this sentence and asked why it is wrong to have the comma separating the verb phrase.
He was annoyed there was no paint and didn't need to rush to work, had much better things to do at 8am.
Would you say this sentence is grammatical? I know there are better ways to write it, but he/she wants an explanation why this comma cannot exist and why the subject of the sentence would need to exist: 'work, as he had much better...'
Would you say it's a detached verb cluster and is grammatical, or would you say it is an elliptical clause, or would you say it is ungrammatical?
Here is an example of detached verb cluster, so I suppose it is different from this sentence as the sentence above has no conjunction:
He constructed a large entry door out of Pacific Coast pine, and later smoothed it with an adze.
Thanks in advance.
He was annoyed there was no paint and didn't need to rush to work, had much better things to do at 8am.
Would you say this sentence is grammatical? I know there are better ways to write it, but he/she wants an explanation why this comma cannot exist and why the subject of the sentence would need to exist: 'work, as he had much better...'
Would you say it's a detached verb cluster and is grammatical, or would you say it is an elliptical clause, or would you say it is ungrammatical?
Here is an example of detached verb cluster, so I suppose it is different from this sentence as the sentence above has no conjunction:
He constructed a large entry door out of Pacific Coast pine, and later smoothed it with an adze.
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
Eddie88 He was annoyed there was no paint and didn't need to rush to work, had much better things to do at 8am. It is two sentences spliced together with a comma. There are 2 separate thoughts.
- Eddie88 He was annoyed there was no paint and didn't need to rush to work, had much better things to do at 8am.
- It is two sentences spliced together with a comma.
- There are 2 separate thoughts.
- 1) He didn't need to rush to work, because there was no paint.
- 2) He had better things to do that morning.
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2 Answers
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Eddie88He was annoyed there was no paint and didn't need to rush to work, had much better things to do at 8am.It is two sentences spliced together with a comma.
There are 2 separate thoughts. 1) He didn't need to rush to work, because there was no paint. 2) He had better things to do that morning.
I would write this:
He was annoyed there
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Cheers. I just disregarded the comma splice since there is no subject; thus it isn't a clause. But I suppose you are saying they are implied and that there are two different thoughts.
Would you be able to tackle a question of my own; it is on free modifiers, ing phrase vs relative clauses. It would be most helpful to read what you have to say.
Would you be able to tackle a question of my own; it is on free modifiers, ing phrase vs relative clauses. It would be most helpful to read what you have to say.
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