Comments on: Pregnant pauses and not-quite-full stops

By: Constance Hale

Constance Hale — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:31:21 +0000

OK, this is so close I think I need to declare a tie between Pratik and Suzanna.

Here’s how the sentence should be punctuated:
John, where Paul had had “had,” had had “had had”; “had had” had had the teacher’s approval.

It helps to imagine the context: The narrator is recalling an English exercise in which John and Paul were working on their verb tenses. Paul had used “had” in a sentence where John had used “had had.”

Pratik and Suzanna, send me your addresses and I’ll send each of you a book.

By: Suzanna Blahna

Suzanna Blahna — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:06:48 +0000

I have the hardest time with commas. I didn’t take one out because I can’t see which one should go, but the quotation marks, at least, make the sentence clearer.

John, where Paul had had “had,” had had “had had”; had had “had,” had the teacher’s approval.

By: Constance Hale

Constance Hale — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 01:27:32 +0000

Super close. Note the semicolon in Suzanna’s last try. Somthing like that is needed. As well as quotation marks to make it really make sense!

By: Pratik Ichhaporia

Pratik Ichhaporia — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:32:55 +0000

It is a very complex sentence. Let me try once more.

John, where Paul had had had, had had had had, had had had had the teacher’s approval.

By: Connie Hale

Connie Hale — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 18:23:51 +0000

You are so close!

There is one comma too many, and, um, don’t you need another kind of punctuation in there?

By: Suzanna Blahna

Suzanna Blahna — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 15:14:19 +0000

I suppose I’m a glutton for punishment, but I gave it one more try.

John, where Paul had had had, had had had had; had had had, had the teacher’s approval.

By: Connie Hale

Connie Hale — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:55:29 +0000

Pretty close. Still one stray comma, though. And, um, aren’t there two clauses there?

Oh, and let’s not forget that there needs to be something else that sets off certain words to make the whole situation make sense.

By: Suzanna Blahna

Suzanna Blahna — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:32:57 +0000

John, where Paul had had had, had had had had, had had had, had the teacher’s approval.

By: Constance Hale

Constance Hale — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:29:59 +0000

Well, that first comma is correct. Hint: the second comma goes after the THIRD had…

By: Pratik Ichhaporia

Pratik Ichhaporia — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:10:00 +0000

John, where Paul had had, had had had, had, had had had had, had the teacher’s approval.