Originally posted by KneverKnightFor the best and correctest use of the semi-colon open up Dickens' "A tale of two cities."
I think the semi-colon is used to join two sentences together; the writer wants the idea to flow without the full stop demanded by the period.
The first page of the story, the page that starts with: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." and you'll get a whole string of semi-colons...
Basically your use of it is correct; two seperate sentences which have things in common are linked; it is much under-used today; the comma is so much easier.
Now, I'm not entirely sure if that last semi-colon is correct, because I'm offering an alternative rather than a 'build on', but the jist of the use is correct.
Sorry, I'll stop brabbeling. Go and read Dickens!
Originally posted by GalaxyShieldI was just adding humorous (I hope) commentary to your spelling.
I was just refering to your clean writing post about the paragraph stuff. Title sentences are what lead off paragraphs and when you're writing a paragraph about directions of recipe or w/e you need to put them in the right order. That's what I meant. Am I wrong?
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Originally posted by kirksey957Finishing a sentence with a preposition is not a mistake. That is a foolish and artificial "rule," concocted by grammarians who thought English should be more like Latin, because Latin is supposedly a purer, more elevated language. In Latin, prepositions always come before something (that's why they're called PREpositions). But putting this rule in English is totally unnatural and ahistorical and can lead to very contorted syntax.
I know! That is a mistake I make frequently. I like it when the students confront the teacher with their wisdom. Please remember to begin a sentence with a capital letter. 🙂
For example, take the following two sentences:
1. Many people don't know what they are talking about.
2. Many people don't know about what they are talking.
Which sentence sounds like more natural English to you?
I mean, do you really think it's ungrammatical to say "What are you looking for?" That's ending a sentence with a preposition, and it's a perfectly respectable English sentence.
To repeat, ending sentences with prepositions in English is perfectly acceptable.
Originally posted by jgvaccaroI guess the first sentence is the right one.
Finishing a sentence with a preposition is not a mistake. That is a foolish and artificial "rule," concocted by grammarians who thought English should be more like Latin, because Latin is supposedly a purer, more elevated language. In Latin, prepositions always come before something (that's why they're called PREpositions). But putting this rule in ...[text shortened]... sentence.
To repeat, ending sentences with prepositions in English is perfectly acceptable.
Kirk,I see many times users write words ending with ''ful'' in two ways:
Grateful and gratefull
Is the second a mistake or they are both correct?
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Originally posted by RavelloRavello-- it's grateful. When "ful" is used as a suffix to form an adjective it's always one "l" as far as I know-- beautiful, bountiful, resentful, and so on. Two "l"s is considered a mistake.
I guess the first sentence is the right one.
Kirk,I see many times users write words ending with ''ful'' in two ways:
Grateful and gratefull
Is the second a mistake or they are both correct?
This also applies to nouns like "mouthful," and "handful"-- as in "A Fistful of Dollars."
Originally posted by jgvaccaroJake, I am glad you have entered this thread. You are obviously more qualified than Professa K-Dawg. As a side-note, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the finest schools in the country. Please feel free to defend or correct me as you see fit.
Ravello-- it's grateful. When "ful" is used as a suffix to form an adjective it's always one "l" as far as I know-- beautiful, bountiful, resentful, and so on.
Originally posted by kirksey957Hey Kirk--
Jake, I am glad you have entered this thread. You are obviously more qualified than Professa K-Dawg. As a side-note, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the finest schools in the country. Please feel free to defend or correct me as you see fit.
Well, English grammar can be a bit thorny, as language is incredibly volatile, and we don't have some sort of academy to rule on contested issues (a good thing in my opinion).
I imagine that there are quite a few things I say and write that some would consider mistakes, and perhaps with reason. (For example, I sometimes use "they" as a singular neuter pronoun-- as in "everyone should plan for their retirement." This usage has historical precedent but is still anathema to many people. I like it because it's convenient, and I think it's here to stay.)
One thing to keep in mind is that there's no firm boundary between a "rule" and a "convention." If everyone woke up tomorrow saying "I is a student," that would be standard and correct English.
Originally posted by EdwardipovI can appreciate the need for stylistic flourish, but I think many of the younger members (my assumption) have gotten lazy with computers and do not even attempt the most basic of rules such as capitalization and punctuation. If I had one hope for this thread, it would be to raise awareness of the simple rules. I am amazed at how many resumes are poorly written. Things like misspelled words, poor punctuation, and the like.
not starting sentences with a capital letter is a stylistic flourish 😉