Quote:
Originally Posted by David L.  In a sentence such as "He sat on the rocking chair reading a book', we do not say aloud '...chair, comma, reading a book' yet we understand what is meant - that it is the man who is both sitting and reading.
My American friend says either would be fine, with or without a comma.
The point is: because we can understand what is meant, does not make it correct and 'fine', particularly in written form. And as I thought I had shown :in the sentence -
He sat down on the woman reading a book
and
He sat down on the woman, reading a book
the comma gives it two completely different meanings.
Tis better to know the correct way and why - to avoid such anomalies - so you know when you can disregard the rule!
Language is to be played with. The more you are master of the language, the more you can have fun with it. Otherwise, it's the difference between someone who plays the piano, and someone stuck playing two-fingered Chopsticks. |
Hi there... here's my American, non-teacher interpretation.
Without the comma, it would seem like the room was singing merrily:
She went out of the room singing merrily.
To be honest, if I were writing it, I would write it as follows:
Singing merrily, she went out of the room. I'm not sure if it's incorrect to start a sentence with the gerund form of the verb, but it seems to help me to separate the idea that she was singing merrily...
