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Senroeash Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Why no comma in this sentence?
Hi Everyone,
I came across this sentence in the CAE Result (by http://elt.oup.com/bios/elt/g/gude_k?cc=global&selLanguage=en and http://elt.oup.com/bios/elt/s/stephens_m?cc=global&selLanguage=en, OUP) student's book:
"They hoped to identify the murderer so they arranged an identity parade."
It immediately struck me as strange that there was no comma, so I did some research. Following the 'rules outlined here http://www.towson.edu/ows/sentences.htm#COMPLEX SENTENCE I understand the example to be a compound sentence with two main clauses joined by the coordinating conjunction 'so' and therefore there should be a comma after 'murderer'. Which was what my intuition had told me from the start.
What do you all think? Is my interpretation correct? Even if it is, is it acceptable to leave the comma out?
I'm trying to find some hard and fast rules to help my students but it seems to be more smoke and mirrors!
Cheers.
Robert
PS for those of you that speak German the German translation definitely requires a comma and clearly demonstrates that this is a compound sentence (German word order rules):
"Sie hoffen den Mörder zu identifizieren, also veranlassten sie eine Gegenüberstellung."
I came across this sentence in the CAE Result (by http://elt.oup.com/bios/elt/g/gude_k?cc=global&selLanguage=en and http://elt.oup.com/bios/elt/s/stephens_m?cc=global&selLanguage=en, OUP) student's book:
"They hoped to identify the murderer so they arranged an identity parade."
It immediately struck me as strange that there was no comma, so I did some research. Following the 'rules outlined here http://www.towson.edu/ows/sentences.htm#COMPLEX SENTENCE I understand the example to be a compound sentence with two main clauses joined by the coordinating conjunction 'so' and therefore there should be a comma after 'murderer'. Which was what my intuition had told me from the start.
What do you all think? Is my interpretation correct? Even if it is, is it acceptable to leave the comma out?
I'm trying to find some hard and fast rules to help my students but it seems to be more smoke and mirrors!
Cheers.
Robert
PS for those of you that speak German the German translation definitely requires a comma and clearly demonstrates that this is a compound sentence (German word order rules):
"Sie hoffen den Mörder zu identifizieren, also veranlassten sie eine Gegenüberstellung."
Top answer
) Yes, according to punctuation rules, there should be a comma there. I'm trying to find some hard and fast rules to help my students , but it seems to be more smoke and mirrors! And there should be a comma in the above sentence too.
- ) Yes, according to punctuation rules, there should be a comma there.
- I'm trying to find some hard and fast rules to help my students , but it seems to be more smoke and mirrors!
- And there should be a comma in the above sentence too.
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4 Answers
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senroeash"They hoped to identify the murderer, so they arranged an identity parade." (We usually say something like 'a suspect lineup', not "an identity parade".)
Yes, according to punctuation rules, t
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Hi,
I know you are looking for rules, and I know they are valuable to learners.
However, I like to keep my class aware that a comma reflects a pause in speech. I find it can be instructive sometimes to ask them whether they would pause at some point in a sentence,
I know you are looking for rules, and I know they are valuable to learners.
However, I like to keep my class aware that a comma reflects a pause in speech. I find it can be instructive sometimes to ask them whether they would pause at some point in a sentence,
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Haha, right you are canadian45 :-) Still getting used to it myself.
I'm actually ok with identity parade though, seems fine to me and a quick search on google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=identity+parade&btnG=Google+Search&aq=
I'm actually ok with identity parade though, seems fine to me and a quick search on google (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=identity+parade&btnG=Google+Search&aq=
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senroeashHaha, right you are canadian45 :-) Still getting used to it myself. I'm actually ok with identity parade though, seems fine to me and a quick search on google (=) backs that up.Cheers.Thanks, it appears to be British English.
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