need some help with some grammar phrases.

[huxley]

no, I'm french canadian.

 

[Lith]

Aw has a whining edge to it. Ah has a surprised edge. For frustration, you might also go with Agh or Argh!

For #1 and 2, you might try making two sentences out of them where the commas are. Both are correct, but there are slight differences in how they would read. It depends on what you are going for. In number two, it would be a period for the first half, and a question mark on the second half.

 

[huxley]

I need you guys help with some more phrases.

1. "Are you going to let us through (comma?) or do I have to report you to the police?" (I'd say yes, right)

2. "Hey, you can laugh about this tomorrow( ) but right now ( ) we need to leave." (i'd say yes , right. )

3." You'd better change your attitute ( ) or your friends won't be allowed to come to your birthday party." (I'd say yes , right)

4." When they come back ( ) they're going to know it was us." (I'd say no, because the first phrase is too short. isn't there a rule bout this? like it has to be longer than 5 words or something.)

5."Yeah! They took it ( ) and it's all your fault." (I'd say yes, right)

6."Of course, but first ( 1 ) you see ( 2 ) I was hoping for some sort of reward." (I'd say on #2 , I think? Need help with this one.)

7."There, done." (like in just having finished fixing something.)

 

[HoopyFrood]

I can't say for sure on all of them, but here goes:

1. Hmm...I keep reading that sentence and it seems both could be acceptable. I'll leave this to someone else to say!

2. I think it would be "Hey, you can laugh about this tomorrow(,) but right now we need to leave."

3. I don't think it needs a comma, but I'm not entirely sure.

4. No comma, I should think. And I've never heard of a rule that limits the amount of words when using commas.

5. I'd say no. Generally, commas are not needed before an 'and' in sentences. Ands are conjunctions, bringing what could be seperate sentences together.

6. I'm not sure of the structure of that sentence, but if you're going for what I think you're going for, then I'd say commas in both positions, around the "you see"

7. Right, I believe.

Anyway, that's my guess at it!

 

[chrispenycate]

Basically, I'm in agreement with Hoopy (except that, on the first, either could be acceptable, not both ) and the same goes for number five; some people regularly put a comma before "and"s, and here it would give more emphasis to the "all your fault" by separating it from the rest of the sentence.
Lacking an "Acadamie", there is more flexibility in English; certainly, you could never be criticised for leaving it out, but I use a more "speech based" than "rule based" system of punctuation, particularly for dialogue, and a pause before the and sometimes works, sometimes doesn't (difficile si on ne parle pas courament la langue)
The last example is not a grammatically correct sentence; but it is very accurate dialogue. It's just what someone would say, and the pause falls where it should.
And no, I don't think there's any rule as to how many words you need before a comma; frequently, it's just one.

 

[Sapheron]

Generally commas aren't too much of a problem. If it sounds right, then generally it is. Or at least it isn't wrong enough for anyone to notice/care. The wierd one is apostraphies, which I'm not sure I spelt right. Nevertheless, they're the ones people (like me), more often make a mess of. For example, for some reason my first line read

"Generally comma's aren't too much of a problem"

until I changed it. Not a clue why I put it there, and it's wrong, but there we go.

So yes, commas go where you think they should most of the time. Say it out loud, and if it sounds natural you can bet half your money on it being right.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Basically, I'm in agreement with Hoopy (except that, on the first, either could be acceptable, not both )

Damn, finally been 'critiqued' by the Pedantissimo! And I was doing so well

 

[Lith]

It's a little harder for a non-native speaker to tell if it sounds right.

Those all sound fine to me, though. Of course, I've been told I put too many unnecessary commas in my writing, so I'm consciously revising them out all the time.

Apostrophes: if you're merely making a plural out of a noun, I can't think of any instances where you would ever need an apostrophe. And if you're making a contraction (don't rather than do not), like when making two words into one, then you always need one, as a marker that you chopped something out of the word. Possessives are a little harder to tell.

 

[huxley]

Here are some other phrases that are confusing me.

1. in dialoq, do I cap the a in aunt, line in: "Your Aunt is a little crazy."

2."Boy( ) you must be lost."
(I'd think yes cause I could replace "boy" with "wow". )

3. is it spelled " Oh no!" or "Oh, no!" like in "Oh no! I think she saw us."

4. A dirty kitchen with an old sink and (a or an) even older stove.
(I'm confused cause the "a" sounds better, but I preaty sure the rule would say "an" )

 

[HoopyFrood]

On the last one...definitely "an". "An" is always used when a word starts with a vowel.

 

[Pyan]

Unicorn?

 

[HoopyFrood]

*Rolls eyes* I knew someone would have to prove me wrong!

Well, in most cases then with the whole an before a vowel.

 

[Pyan]

Wasn't trying to prove a point, per se, Hoopy - just that that word in particular is quite a common word in fantasy writing. Universe/University are another couple of odd ones.

 

[huxley]

It seems that I can't make up my mind on this phrases. Should I put a "is" or not.

1. "It's as if you can only get ahead in this game if you cheat."

2."It's as if you can only get ahead in this game is if you cheat."

 

[Commonmind]

Number two would make sense if it were phrased as so: "The only way you can get ahead in this game is if you cheat." or "It's as if the only way you can get ahead in this game is if you cheat." Use number one.

 

[huxley]

thanks , it does flow better with the " the only"

i have another question relating to dialog.
the phrases i want is "Oh no you're not." like a mother would tell her child. sould i place a comma somewhere? cause i think it's good as it is. has anyone ever seen a phrase punctuated like that?

 

[Pyan]

Try "Oh no you're not!", or "Oh no you're not.", Huxley: I think the last word needs emphasis if you omit a comma after "no".
But I've been wrong before!

 

[Lith]

On the last one...definitely "an". "An" is always used when a word starts with a vowel.

Actually only use "an" if the following word has the sound of a vowel. Such as "Hour". Starts with a consonant, but as it's a silent consonant, the sound is a vowel. With "unicorn", the first sound is that of a Y, which isn't officially a vowel. It's a purely phonetic thing. There will be some differences between British and American English, based mostly on whether the "H" is silent.

2."It's as if you can only get ahead in this game is if you cheat."

You may hear this on the street, but don't put it in your writing (you'll just sound uneducated). The "'s" is the "is" in this sentence.

1. in dialogue, do I cap the a in aunt, line in: "Your Aunt is a little crazy."

2."Boy( ) you must be lost."
(I'd think yes cause I could replace "boy" with "wow". )

3. is it spelled " Oh no!" or "Oh, no!" like in "Oh no! I think she saw us."

#1- only capitalize aunt if it's part of her name, as in Aunt Marge. Same with Mom and Dad- "her mom" isn't capitalized, as you are describing the person, but if you were to call out to her, then you are in effect giving her a name, and then you capitalize it. Confusing, isn't it? "My mom" isn't capitalized, but "Hey, Mom?" is.

#2- either's fine. Though Wow is possibly more literary than Boy.

#3- either way is fine, but remember that a comma is a way of marking a very small pause in speech, so "Oh, no!" reads a little longer than "Oh no!".

 

[huxley]

thanks for all the help guys. i need help again.

i need a insult. a short person insult.


this is the line: "You have a better chance (at / of)
----------------------------- than you have at beating me."

can you guys think of any sugestions? it needs to be about his height.