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From: Miss Elaine Eos <Misc@*your-shoes*PlayNaked.com>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: Query: "," (comma) after "over time"
Organization: Very little. Maybe some on weekends.
References: <1141882524.896659.24190@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>
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Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2006 06:50:14 GMT
Xref: news.nzbot.com alt.languages.english:1137
In article <1141882524.896659.24190@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
katouna@yamaha-motor.co.jp wrote:
> Hello. I'm a Japanese and I would appreciate it if some kind readers,
> especially native English speakers, would help me with the usage of
> comma after "over time" when "over time" is used at the beginning of a
> sentence.
>
> I wrote "Each environmental activity might be no more than a small dot.
> *Over time* this dot will become a line, then the lines will form a
> network of corporate-wide activity that will produce enormous
> results.". I originally didn't put a comma after "over time", because I
> didn't feel I need to, but my collegue (Japanese) insisted that I
> should.
Your colleague is correct. The comma separates an optional phrase. You
could write "[e]ach environmental activity might be no more than a small
dot. Over time this dot will become a line, then the lines will form a
network of corporate-wide activity that will produce enormous results",
or you could write "[e]ach environmental activity might be no more than
a small dot. This dot will become a line..." Removing the phrase "over
time" does not change the meaning, so the optional phrase is offset by a
comma.
--
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