Chuck,
Thanks for the grammar mini refresher. I'm sure many of us can stand to brush
up on our punctuation.
I agree with those who say to put the conditional statement first. I've been
trying to do that throughout my career.
Chuck brings up grammar nuances that many readers may never know or understand.
Simple passages add clarity to our writing. If you're having trouble
punctuating a sentence, someone is going to have trouble reading it. If that is
the case, revise your work. It is that simple.
I've been studying a book on Microsoft Access and have stumbled several times
on some contractions used in the book. I suspect the author, or maybe the
editor, chose to use an "informal" writing style to make the book seem more
friendly. That's okay with some words, but the problem's where nouns are
contracted with 'is' to make words that are not part of our normal vocabulary.
It was my intention to illustrate the problem in the previous sentence.
Personally, I don't stumble over "that's", but using the word "problem's" is a
different story. I like a familiar style, but it only took me about 20 seconds
to randomly select a page where this problem reared its ugly head. Just for
kicks, I'll give you five examples that I found on a randomly selected page.
Example 1:
In this example, the copyright symbol's being copied with the help of
Character Map.
Example 2:
You can dash off a quick printout by choosing File > Print from the
menu while your datasheet's visible.
Example 3:
The key problem's that Access isn't bothered about tables that are too
wide to fit on a printed page.
Example 4:
If you have a large table and you print it out using the standard
Access Settings, you could easily
end up with a printout that's four pages wide and three pages long.
Example 5.
To get a better printout, it's absolutely crucial that you preview your
table before you print it, as described in the next section.
Is it me, or would the first three examples be improved by using the word "is"
instead of a contraction? I found myself stumbling over and over as I'm trying
to learn some new techniques in Access. Learning Access is hard enough that I
don't want to work so hard trying to decipher an overly-familiar style of
writing.
Tom Johnson
231-944-7454
[email protected]
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of Chuck Beck
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 10:06 PM
To: 'raj nair'; [email protected]
Subject: Re: [TCP] Comma before clauses beginning with 'if"
Hi all,
Have been fairly inactive for awhile, but now getting back in the swing of
things. So I decided to take a shot at this one, before I read anyone else's
responses...
To me, your example looks awkward, even incorrect. And, according to that
old stand-by, the Chicago Manual of Style, if the dependent clause (in this
case, beginning with the word "if") is restrictive-that is, it cannot be
deleted without altering the meaning of the sentence-then a comma is not
required. If the dependent clause is nonrestrictive, meaning it *can* be
deleted without significantly altering the meaning of the statement, then it
is required. In this case, that would mean that the comma is not required or
expected.
In any case, I would counsel against constructing a statement, such as the
one you provided as an example, with the dependent clause at the end. I very
strongly feel that conditional statements should always, always, ALWAYS
place the condition *before* the action. Otherwise, the careless user (and
there are a LOT of them out there) will typically perform the action and
*then* read the condition and then go "Oops!" (or worse). So, I would never
write a statement for users like the one you provide as an example. FWIW...
Now I'll go read what others have opined.
Hope this helps,
Chuck Beck
www.swan-cross.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On
Behalf Of raj nair
Sent: Sunday, March 28, 2010 10:57
To: [email protected]
Subject: [TCP] Comma before clauses beginning with 'if"
It is well-known that a comma is used if an "if" clause is at the beginning
of a sentence. Is there a rule, an exception, where the reverse is true?
For example, can this punctuation be right?
Select the statement cache size, if you get a warning mesaage.
Please share your thoughts.
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