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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2010Need your intuition on "or"
Hello, I need native speakers of English to help me judge whether the following are acceptable English sentences. Thanks. (1) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will read Chapter 3. (2) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will. (3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. (4) Will John read Chapter 3 or Mary? I appreciate your help. Ray :-) In article <b1738d2c-c5cd-47c7-a650-81b9f7bf6f37@p8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>, > Hello, I need native speakers of English to help me judge whether the > following are acceptable English sentences. Thanks. > > (1) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will read Chapter 3. OK, but a bit wordy. > (2) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will. OK. > (3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. No. The initial parsing attempt is that John will read {Chapter 3 or Mary}. IMO, better than all of these is: (*) John or Mary will read Chapter 3. > (4) Will John read Chapter 3 or Mary? No, for the same reason as (3). It can be helped by adding a comma before the "or". Better would be to invert (2) to give: Will John read Chapter 3, or will Mary? You can also invert (*) to give: Will John or Mary read Chapter 3? > I appreciate your help. > > Ray :-)  Signature--------------------------- | BBB b \ Barbara at LivingHistory stop co stop uk | B B aa rrr b | | BBB a a r bbb | Quidquid latine dictum sit, | B B a a r b b | altum videtur. | BBB aa a r bbb | ----------------------------- > In article > <b1738d2c-c5cd-47c7-a650-81b9f7bf6f37@p8g2000yqb.googlegroups.com>, [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > OK, but a bit wordy. OK, but easier to read with a comma after "3". >> (2) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will. > > OK. Comma less necessary here, but still an improvement. >> (3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > IMO, better than all of these is: > (*) John or Mary will read Chapter 3. Yes, though I might put an "Either" at the beginning. >> (4) Will John read Chapter 3 or Mary? > [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> >> Ray :-) Signatureathel >Hello, I need native speakers of English to help me judge whether the >following are acceptable English sentences. Thanks. > >(1) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will read Chapter 3. Wordy, but there might be a reason for that sometimes. >(2) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary will. The most common. >(3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. No good for some reason. >(4) Will John read Chapter 3 or Mary? In conversation 4 is fine, and very common. If I were transcribing a conversation, I would probably put a comma after 3. Also in 1, I would put a comma there. Two has least need of a comma because the phrasing is so common, it will be easily understood without one. >I appreciate your help. > >Ray :-) SignaturePosters should say where they live, and for which area they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in Western Pa. 10 years Indianapolis 7 years Chicago 6 years Brooklyn, NY 12 years Baltimore 26 years > [ ••• ] >> (3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. > > No good for some reason. No good for the reason Barb gave. Signatureathel > Hello, I need native speakers of English to help me judge whether the > following are acceptable English sentences. Thanks. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > (3) John will read Chapter 3 or Mary. > (4) Will John read Chapter 3 or Mary? #1: OK, though unusual--it sounds as if someone is speaking emphatically. #2: Comprehensible, but better begun with "Either". #3: No. Ellipsis--the eliding of "understood" words--does not work unless virtually every reader will, at first reading, infallibly sense and supply the missing terms. That is not so here, because the "or" suggests an alternative to "Chapter 3" (John will read Chapter 3 or Chapter 5), so "Mary" is disconcerting. #4: With a comma after the "3", passable, but better with less severe ellipsis: "Will John read Chapter 3, or will Mary?" Obviously, though, the better approach is to keep like with like: Either John or Mary will read Chapter 3. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ >> Hello, I need native speakers of English to help me judge whether the >> following are acceptable English sentences. Thanks. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >#1: OK, though unusual--it sounds as if someone is speaking emphatically. You would normally use this form if Mary might read something different. "John will read Chapter 3, or Mary will read Chapter 4." [The comma is my preference.] As with #2 below, you might like to start with "Either". >#2: Comprehensible, but better begun with "Either". If "or Mary will" is an afterthought (like you might hear in normal speech), you could use "John will read Chapter 3 - or Mary will." [Some people disapprove of the "-".] >#3: No. Ellipsis--the eliding of "understood" words--does not work >unless virtually every reader will, at first reading, infallibly sense >and supply the missing terms. That is not so here, because the "or" >suggests an alternative to "Chapter 3" (John will read Chapter 3 or >Chapter 5), so "Mary" is disconcerting. Again, a "-" could be inserted. "John will read Chapter 3 - or Mary." It is obvious that there is an 'understood' (unspoken) "will". John can not read Mary. >#4: With a comma after the "3", passable, but better with less severe >ellipsis: "Will John read Chapter 3, or will Mary?" > >Obviously, though, the better approach is to keep like with like: > > Either John or Mary will read Chapter 3. An alternative to a comma would again be a "-" makes it readable. It is more emphatic than a comma. "Will John read Chapter 3 - or Mary?" SignatureIan |
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