10-14-2009, 04:55 PM
I have some questions. I already know of some bad habits for Norwegian English speakers, but now I'm genuinely starting to doubt my knowledge of a few things. This might be seen as nitpicking by some, but I assume that there are some among you guys who are concerned with the same details. I am a perfectionist and whenever I see my own grammar/punctuation mistakes I want to punch something. Now I've become so confused I don't even remember what I used to know so I need to clarify >< Here's what I've been thinking about:
* Comma rules. When to have comma, when to not have comma. When it comes to listing independent clauses - I think I get that. Dunno, PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong. Also simpler things are bugging me. Do you use comma before 'and' and 'but' and 'or' as a general rule, or only in some cases? In Norwegian we always use a comma before the words equal to 'and', 'but', and 'or', but a guy I know claim you don't do that in English! So now I am afraid I'm overusing commas in English. Examples:
- 'The shirt is blue, and red' or 'the shirt is blue and red' The former, because 'blue' and 'red' are in some state of comparison/agreement, and shouldn't be broken by a comma?
- 'Do you want coffee, or tea?' or 'Do you want coffee or tea?' The latter, I guess? Same reason as with 'blue and red'?
- 'he took the keys, his car, and the hat'. or 'he took the keys, his car and his hat'? I think the former, but I can't say why.
- 'Do you want coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?' or 'Do you want coffee, tea or hot chocolate?' The former again? Why?
- 'this porridge is with cinnamon and I like that' or 'this porridge is with cinnamon, and I like that'? Here, I lean towards the latter, but I don't know if it's right. It's correct in Norwegian, but possibly wrong in English.
- 'I like her, but not you' or 'I like her but not you'? the former? Am I 'Norwegianifying' English sentences with my commas?
* Semicolons and complex sentences.When listing clauses - they are separated with semicolons when the sentence structure would have used commas had the items of the list been single words? Also in this sentence, would the last two items be listed like that, or would there be a semicolon (or regular comma?) also after 'blue car'?
- 'There are a number of reasons: Belle's love for food, which is destructive in itself; the cat's presence in the dining room; the hunter and the strange outfit he wears; the blue car and its contents and the similarity between Belle and her mother.'
or:
- 'There are a number of reasons: Belle's love for food, which is destructive in itself; the cat's presence in the dining room; the hunter and the strange outfit he wears; the blue car and its contents, and the similarity between Belle and her mother.'
* Somewhat related to the above: and (and 'or'). I am is technically not breaking any rules by writing the following, correct? 'He took the bag and the keys and the blue shirt and the little clip to go on it'. It sounds bad/childish, but it is not breaking grammar rules? Technically, can I do the same with 'or'? 'Do you want coffee or tea or a sandwich or something else?' This sounds less crippled than the string of 'and''s, but... is it grammatically sound?
* Hyphens. Is there some general rule that states when to write a compound with a hyphen, and when not to? I know that the hyphen is exiting the English language, but I also know there are still some compounds around that use it. These compounds just have to be memorized?
* Countries. If I am talking about India, can I call the country 'her', or is that just a poetic twist used by some? 'With her 14 official languages - in addition to Hindi -, India is very much a multilingual country.' OH and here again with the comma! After a shot-in comment like that, should there be a comma? Should I use ()'s instead (dunno what they're called in English), and then a comma? Like this: 'With her 14 official languages (in addition to Hindi), India is very much a multilingual country.' Should there even be a comma there?
'With her 14 official languages India is very much a multilingual country.' or 'With her 14 official languages, India is very much a multilingual country.'? ARGH.
Obviously, this has been bugging me A LOT. And I'm so picky: not only do I want the right answer, but I want the core rule that states why. No books I've found so far can give me that. I'm hoping that I could perhaps start a discussion about this, and find some answers like that. Feel free to criticize anything else I keep doing, any other frequent mistakes, like weak sentences/strange sentence patterns or whatever. I'm very open for that, because I really really want to write good English. Pretty English<3
Thanks loads to anyone who have anything to say about this, you're helping my silly thoughts of lingual inadequacy!
* Comma rules. When to have comma, when to not have comma. When it comes to listing independent clauses - I think I get that. Dunno, PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong. Also simpler things are bugging me. Do you use comma before 'and' and 'but' and 'or' as a general rule, or only in some cases? In Norwegian we always use a comma before the words equal to 'and', 'but', and 'or', but a guy I know claim you don't do that in English! So now I am afraid I'm overusing commas in English. Examples:
- 'The shirt is blue, and red' or 'the shirt is blue and red' The former, because 'blue' and 'red' are in some state of comparison/agreement, and shouldn't be broken by a comma?
- 'Do you want coffee, or tea?' or 'Do you want coffee or tea?' The latter, I guess? Same reason as with 'blue and red'?
- 'he took the keys, his car, and the hat'. or 'he took the keys, his car and his hat'? I think the former, but I can't say why.
- 'Do you want coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?' or 'Do you want coffee, tea or hot chocolate?' The former again? Why?
- 'this porridge is with cinnamon and I like that' or 'this porridge is with cinnamon, and I like that'? Here, I lean towards the latter, but I don't know if it's right. It's correct in Norwegian, but possibly wrong in English.
- 'I like her, but not you' or 'I like her but not you'? the former? Am I 'Norwegianifying' English sentences with my commas?
* Semicolons and complex sentences.When listing clauses - they are separated with semicolons when the sentence structure would have used commas had the items of the list been single words? Also in this sentence, would the last two items be listed like that, or would there be a semicolon (or regular comma?) also after 'blue car'?
- 'There are a number of reasons: Belle's love for food, which is destructive in itself; the cat's presence in the dining room; the hunter and the strange outfit he wears; the blue car and its contents and the similarity between Belle and her mother.'
or:
- 'There are a number of reasons: Belle's love for food, which is destructive in itself; the cat's presence in the dining room; the hunter and the strange outfit he wears; the blue car and its contents, and the similarity between Belle and her mother.'
* Somewhat related to the above: and (and 'or'). I am is technically not breaking any rules by writing the following, correct? 'He took the bag and the keys and the blue shirt and the little clip to go on it'. It sounds bad/childish, but it is not breaking grammar rules? Technically, can I do the same with 'or'? 'Do you want coffee or tea or a sandwich or something else?' This sounds less crippled than the string of 'and''s, but... is it grammatically sound?
* Hyphens. Is there some general rule that states when to write a compound with a hyphen, and when not to? I know that the hyphen is exiting the English language, but I also know there are still some compounds around that use it. These compounds just have to be memorized?
* Countries. If I am talking about India, can I call the country 'her', or is that just a poetic twist used by some? 'With her 14 official languages - in addition to Hindi -, India is very much a multilingual country.' OH and here again with the comma! After a shot-in comment like that, should there be a comma? Should I use ()'s instead (dunno what they're called in English), and then a comma? Like this: 'With her 14 official languages (in addition to Hindi), India is very much a multilingual country.' Should there even be a comma there?
'With her 14 official languages India is very much a multilingual country.' or 'With her 14 official languages, India is very much a multilingual country.'? ARGH.Obviously, this has been bugging me A LOT. And I'm so picky: not only do I want the right answer, but I want the core rule that states why. No books I've found so far can give me that. I'm hoping that I could perhaps start a discussion about this, and find some answers like that. Feel free to criticize anything else I keep doing, any other frequent mistakes, like weak sentences/strange sentence patterns or whatever. I'm very open for that, because I really really want to write good English. Pretty English<3
Thanks loads to anyone who have anything to say about this, you're helping my silly thoughts of lingual inadequacy!