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Quote:
Originally Posted by BobK
My primary goal of this thread is to learn something about the rules of written English.
My English is really quite good, and I need little help.1. Are these sentences punctuated correctly?
My English is really quite good; I need little help.
2. I think that the conjunction "But" doesn’t work here since "Little" is used negatively. So, the conjunction "And" has been used correctly, hasn’t it?
My English is really quite good and I need little help.
I would use "but." Or I would state it as two sentences. I would not attempt to splice it together with a semicolon.
I agree with Odessa Dawn that "but" would not be appropriate. The writer is not saying "I need a little help"; he is saying that he doesn't really need much help at all. Either "and" or "so" , preceded by a comma, could be used.
You are correct, I read that with an "a" in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grumpy
:up: 'But' is adversative, so this would work:
My English is quite good, but I need a little help. (The stress is on the quite, so that it implies 'quite...but not good enough'.)
Also this:
My English is quite good, and I need little help. (The stress is on the good.)
b
And the semicolon version works too.