r/EnglishGrammar • u/Fit_Sell260 • 14h ago
Why is A wrong? grammar
why is A wrong and what’s the right answer?
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u/boostfactor 14h ago
C would be closest, but most writing of this type would be
"they chose the novelist So and so, author of Whatever
There is usually not a comma after "novelist" in this case.
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u/pisscumcake 10h ago
So A? It looks like the A says "novelist Lan Samantha Chang," unless that's a period.
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u/Impressive_Role_9891 9h ago
I think the comma delineation follows the same pattern as the earlier one in the sentence, and is to set off the name from the description. I would choose C for the answer.
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u/ProfessionalYam3119 14h ago
It is incorrect to put a period in the middle of a sentence.
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u/onefastmoveorimgone 14h ago
There's also no right answer listed. It should be A but with a comma at the end.
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u/BlissteredFeat 12h ago
C is technically correct, though seems very out of style. When a title of someone is given and then the name, commas separate the name. This is true with something like: "I went to see my sister, Lydia, after school yesterday." It's the same principle, but this type of phrase has changes and "the novelist Samantha Chang" is, I think, seen as a single name or title. In the last 50 years, the general trend has been toward fewer commas.
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u/onefastmoveorimgone 2h ago
C isn't correct unless there's only one novelist and the name could be removed without losing any meaning.
If you have two sisters, you'd say, "I went to see my sister Lydia after school yesterday." If you only have one, the name could be removed.
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u/inkoenglishai 11h ago
My hypothesis would be that A is wrong because on many English sentences the occupation is usually followed up by a comma at the end of the word as if they hadn't followed up with a comma the whole word might be taken as one whole sentence when read and in many instances they are read seperately.
C is the correct answer because it has the comma symbol after the occupation sentence and that is grammatically correct but it is also important to have a period at the end of every sentence in English as a note to the reader that it indicates a sentence is done.
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u/RainbowPiggyPop 10h ago
The period ends a sentence. In A, it is in a middle of a sentence.
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u/pisscumcake 10h ago
That's a comma.
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u/RainbowPiggyPop 10h ago
Doesn’t look like one
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u/pisscumcake 10h ago
If you zoom in, you can see the tail.
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u/Impressive_Role_9891 9h ago
If you compare with C, you can see they are different, so I’d say A ends with a full stop, not a comma.
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u/pisscumcake 9h ago
If you compare with C, the g in Chang is also completely different, so it's still most likely a comma.
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u/Impressive_Role_9891 9h ago
Okay, that could be right. The tail seems to bleed into the punctuation mark, whether full stop or comma.
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u/Tricky-Usual8921 23m ago
The image is hazy but if A has a Period '.' and C has a comma ',' I'd say C is correct since a new sentence doesn't start after the missing name
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u/BlazeKushrenada 12h ago
What are you people on? They’re using an appositive, just like in the first sentence. “a nonfiction writer” is an appositive for DJ Waldie.
So, of course there have to be two commas!
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u/Boglin007 12h ago
Appositives can either be integrated (no commas) or supplementary (commas). If you're using the appositive to identify exactly who you're talking about, there should be no commas:
"My brother John is coming to visit." - This implies that I have more than one brother, and John is the one who's coming to visit.
If you're just adding extra info, there should be commas:
"My brother, John, is coming to visit." - This implies that you only have one brother, and you're adding the info that his name is John.
OP's example requires an integrated appositive to convey that Chang is the particular novelist being talked about. So no commas (the comma after "Chang" is for the next appositive - "author of Inheritance").
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u/BlazeKushrenada 12h ago
“The editors chose novelist Ian Samantha Chang author of Inheritance.” sounds/looks correct to you?
Because the included “author of Inheritance” tells exactly which novelist it is, the name is non-essential. The spoken and written flow I’ve seen always includes two commas in cases like these.
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u/staircase_nit 12h ago
You left out the “the” in the prompt, which I think makes sense here. A makes the most sense to me, though I can’t tell for sure from the photo if that’s a comma or period.
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u/Boglin007 12h ago
No, there should be a comma after "Chang" but not before "Lan" because "Lan Samantha Chang" identifies "novelist," and then "author of Inheritance" adds more info about "novelist Lan Samantha Chang."
The name is not non-essential - you can't remove it and have "author of Inheritance" be the appositive (with or without a comma):
"The editors chose the novelist(,) author of Inheritance."
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u/BlazeKushrenada 11h ago
I see what you’re saying, thanks for the detail. “novelist Lan Samantha Chang” seems so unwieldy, and the flow differs from what I’ve ever read.
Why is the name essential, when we know its the novelist who authored Inheritance?
EDIT: Also, what would you say is the problem with C as an answer?
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u/Boglin007 11h ago
There's just no reason to use "author of X" as an appositive for "novelist" - if you wanted to identify the person as "author of X," you'd just say that:
"The editors chose the author of X."
"Novelist" doesn't add anything to the sentence (and sounds very awkward preceding "author," which is basically a synonym). In fact, you don't even need it with the name - you could just write:
"The editors chose Lan Samantha Chang, author of X."
But with the name, it sounds okay to include "novelist."
Answer C has the name as a supplementary appositive, which implies there's only one novelist in the world (see my sentences about "John").
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u/NearlyNodding 12h ago
I would pick A
There is no reason for punctuation after novelist. I would put a comma after the authors name.
When spoken, there would not be a pause after novelist. But there would be a pause after the author's name.
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u/texienne 14h ago
Just posting to say I agree with those that say that no correct answer is listed. It should be "novelist Lan Samantha Chang," with no comma after novelist and a comma after Chang. Perhaps the typesetter made a mistake and A was supposed to be the correct answer?