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FranklyDavid Posted 4 years ago
Grammar

Which sentences are grammatically correct?

Hi new friends! I have a few questions related to sentence structure that I'd like to respectfully ask for your help with. I'm sorry if this post violates any of the forum's rules, and I'm open to constructive advice. Unfortunately, I don't know the appropriate grammatical terminology necessary to express these questions succinctly in subject headers for individual posts. However, to make this as easy as possible for anyone to respond to, I've presented my questions as multiple-choice problems (problems are lettered and sentences are numbered) which can be responded to by saying, for example, "Problem A = 1", or "P-A = 1", and so on. There may be many grammatical errors I've missed, but the boldened text implicates more precisely what my question is about. That said, I'm grateful for any assistance, big or small, that anyone is willing to give me.


Please and thank you!


Problem A:

(1) "All these movements, he believes, have aimed to destroy the belief in God and religion, and eliminate morality from society."

(2) "All these movements, he believes, have aimed to destroy the belief in God and religion, and to eliminate morality from society."


Problem B: (Is it ever acceptable to omit the 'and' when giving a list of things?)

(1) "It contains three colours (red, white, blue) blended together."

(2) "It contains three colours (red, white, and blue) blended together."


Problem C:

(1) "Their aim is the victory of Team A and destruction of Team B"

(2) "Their aim is the victory of Team A and the destruction of Team B."


Problem D: (Is this sentence grammatically correct?)

(1) "They called him 'bastard', meaning born out of wedlock, and regarded him poorly."


Problem E:

(1) "The first step is equality, namely, seeing others as one's equals."

(2) "The first step is equality, namely seeing others as one's equals."


Problem F:

(1) "In opening the door he had in fact set himself free."

(2) "In opening the door he had, in fact, set himself free."


Problem G:

(1) "He not only smiled at her, he laughed."

(2) "He not only smiled at her, he also laughed."

(3) "He not only smiled at her, but he also laughed."

(4) "He not only smiled at her but he laughed."

(5) "He not only smiled at her but also laughed."

(6) "He not only smiled at her but he also laughed."


Problem H:

(1) “What I say tends to get misinterpreted and in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible.”

(2) “What I say tends to get misinterpreted, and in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible.”

  

Top answer

FranklyDavid Problem A: Both sentences are fine. The particle "to" can be omitted; it carries over from the first element in the series. ) Well, in very casual conversation it will be understood, but not in formal writing.

  • FranklyDavid Problem A: Both sentences are fine.
  • The particle "to" can be omitted; it carries over from the first element in the series.
  • ) Well, in very casual conversation it will be understood, but not in formal writing.
  • FranklyDavid Problem C: Retain the article.
  • It is better stylistically.
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1 Answers
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FranklyDavidProblem A:

Both sentences are fine. The particle "to" can be omitted; it carries over from the first element in the series.

The grammatical term of omitting words is "ellipsis."

FranklyDavidProblem B: (Is it ever acceptable to omit the 'and' when giving a list of things?)

Well, in very casual con

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