On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:53:36 -0400, Mike the Elder wrote:

> Stylistically, however, the option of "The rest of it isn't difficult"
> would generally be considered preferable for the following reason:

I didn't consider that option (as not presented), but I'd concur with 
this.

Jim

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> Good -> "This is not something I'll put up with."

I wouldn't put up with this. ;-)

Jim

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:46:31 -0400, Warp wrote:

>   How about sentences where the initial conjunction is redundant? For
> example: "And exactly how do you know that?" (The "and" could be removed
> without changing the meaning of the sentence in any way.)

Depends on whether you're writing in a formal style or a colloquial style.

Jim

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>
wrote:

>Stephen wrote:
>> should be written as: "The rest of it, is not difficult." 
>
>Not in American English. Putting a comma there is incorrect, as it's 
>separating two halves of one sentence. I understand British English is 
>more relaxed about where commas go.

I was taught that a comma can be used to show a slight pause in a
sentence and/or to clarify the intended meaning. An example from
Wikipedia 
The teacher beat the scholar with a whip. A simple description. 
The teacher beat the scholar, with a whip. Expression of outrage

Having said that I agree that it doesn't look right :)
-- 

Regards
     Stephen

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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message
news:48693817@news.povray.org...
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
> > Mike the Elder wrote:
> > > Other useful hints about English grammar:

> > All three of these aren't correct.

>   Btw, wouldn't it be better to say "none of these three are correct"?

Correct you are, but I wonder how "btw" fits into all this...

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Warp wrote:
>   Btw, wouldn't it be better to say "none of these three are correct"?

Yes, probably. I tend not to write particularly carefully here, as you 
might have noticed. :-)

>   How about sentences where the initial conjunction is redundant? For
> example: "And exactly how do you know that?" (The "and" could be removed
> without changing the meaning of the sentence in any way.)

Hmmm... Good question.  Based on the rules *I* know, I'd have to say 
it's likely incorrect. Of course, people say it anyway, so it's hard to 
say they're wrong. :-)

"Exactly how do you know that?" is reasonably a question.
"And exactly how do you know that?" sounds like an accusation.

I think the "and" is a signal to link it to the previous lines of the 
argument, as in "good excuse, but I'm not buying it, because now you 
have to answer this question also" or some such.

That's just my gut feeling, tho.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> 
>> Good -> "This is not something I'll put up with."
> 
> I wouldn't put up with this. ;-)

Of course you can rephrase any sentence. "This is not something up with 
which I shall put!"  I was giving an example where leaving the 
preposition off the end of the sentence changes its meaning, not 
implying that you couldn't get around the problem.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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Stephen wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>
> wrote:
> 
>> Stephen wrote:
>>> should be written as: "The rest of it, is not difficult." 
>> Not in American English. Putting a comma there is incorrect, as it's 
>> separating two halves of one sentence. I understand British English is 
>> more relaxed about where commas go.
> 
> I was taught that a comma can be used to show a slight pause in a
> sentence and/or to clarify the intended meaning.

And where did you learn this? I got my instruction from a British 
immigrant teaching English classes, who was surprised that American 
grammar had different (and generally more strict) rules, which she had 
to explicitly learn before they'd let her teach. Like I said, different 
areas have different rules, which usually only the professionals learn 
strictly.

-- 
Darren New / San Diego, CA, USA (PST)
  Helpful housekeeping hints:
   Check your feather pillows for holes
    before putting them in the washing machine.

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On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:38:44 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New wrote:
>> 
>>> Good -> "This is not something I'll put up with."
>> 
>> I wouldn't put up with this. ;-)
> 
> Of course you can rephrase any sentence. "This is not something up with
> which I shall put!"  I was giving an example where leaving the
> preposition off the end of the sentence changes its meaning, not
> implying that you couldn't get around the problem.

I just couldn't resist, since the sentence made sense in response as well 
as as a demonstration. :-)

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Stephen wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:17:31 -0700, Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom>
> wrote:
> 
>> Stephen wrote:
>>> should be written as: "The rest of it, is not difficult." 
>> Not in American English. Putting a comma there is incorrect, as it's 
>> separating two halves of one sentence. I understand British English is 
>> more relaxed about where commas go.
> 
> I was taught that a comma can be used to show a slight pause in a
> sentence and/or to clarify the intended meaning. An example from
> Wikipedia 
> The teacher beat the scholar with a whip. A simple description. 
> The teacher beat the scholar, with a whip. Expression of outrage
> 
> Having said that I agree that it doesn't look right :)

I was taught the same in grade school; that the comma could be used to 
indicate a pause. By college, my English professor tried to remove that 
bad habit. Losing 3 letter grades on one draft just from misplaced 
commas taught me better then all the rules she could quote.

Do I dare tell her that what I really learned was: "If you can't figure 
out where to put the comma then just re-write the sentence."

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