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I punched him and he cried.

or 

I punched him, and he cried.

Are both acceptable? Is one better than the other? Personally, I like the first one best, as it better shows the cause/effect relationship of the two clauses, but I am not confident that it is gramatically correct.

He told me to do it or I would have to leave.

or

He told me to do it, or I would have to leave.
user318422
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  • When in doubt, leave it out. – Hot Licks Mar 15 '19 at 00:56
  • Why is this tagged grammar? It's about writing not language. – tchrist Mar 15 '19 at 01:57
  • Isn't deciding where to place punctuation classified as grammar? – user318422 Mar 15 '19 at 02:13
  • besides, isn't writing a part of language? – user318422 Mar 15 '19 at 02:18
  • and how is it that my post can't be tagged grammar, but the question that mine is supposed to be a "duplicate" of can be? – user318422 Mar 15 '19 at 02:26
  • No, grammar is only part of actual language, not about how to write it down pleasantly. Grammar comprises syntax and morphology. It is certainly not about writing, let alone writing styles. Writing is merely a technology. Even illiterates and blind people understand grammar, because it is a property only of actual language itself, which is spoken. Thus if it cannot be heard, it cannot be grammar. Writing is a representational encoding. It has no grammar. – tchrist Mar 15 '19 at 03:09

0 Answers0