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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Whether
#1 He did not know whether the depression was caused by his wife leaving him or (by) his employer firing him.
Do we need an apostrophe for wife and employer? Do we need (by)? More importantly, is there another way to frame the sentence?
#2 She was so unlike them. Or is it: she was so unlike they?
#3 He would have succumbed had he been forced.
Assuming the above is correct, suppose we want to include two ideas, can we simply place an em dash to complete it? Like: He would have succumbed had he been forced - and worked for us had he been brainwashed. (just an example I thought of at the moment, but the point is whether we can include it as one sentence with an em dash).
Do we need an apostrophe for wife and employer? Do we need (by)? More importantly, is there another way to frame the sentence?
#2 She was so unlike them. Or is it: she was so unlike they?
#3 He would have succumbed had he been forced.
Assuming the above is correct, suppose we want to include two ideas, can we simply place an em dash to complete it? Like: He would have succumbed had he been forced - and worked for us had he been brainwashed. (just an example I thought of at the moment, but the point is whether we can include it as one sentence with an em dash).
Top answer
Anonymous Do we need an apostrophe for wife and employer? No. "his wife's leaving him" and "his employer's firing him" is over-fussy.
- Anonymous Do we need an apostrophe for wife and employer?
- No.
- "his wife's leaving him" and "his employer's firing him" is over-fussy.
- Anonymous Do we need (by)?
- No, it's optional.
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3 Answers
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AnonymousDo we need an apostrophe for wife and employer?No. "his wife's leaving him" and "his employer's firing him" is over-fussy.
AnonymousDo we need (by)?No, it's optional.
AnonymousMore importantly, is there another way to frame the sentence?Surely. For example, "He didn't know if h
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Hi Wordy, thanks. Reg. the last question, is the structure correct? He would have succumbed had he been forced. I am assuming we need a comma only if the order were reversed?
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AnonymousHi Wordy, thanks. Reg. the last question, is the structure correct? He would have succumbed had he been forced. I am assuming we need a comma only if the order were reversed?Yes, it's correct.
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