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21-Jul-2003, 11:40
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| |  I teach like him
Consider the following:
What does John do for a living?
1-He teaches English like me.
Does 1 necessarily imply that he teaches English in the same manner as I do, or could it just mean that he teaches English for a living and so do I?
As in: 2-He teaches English, like me.
(In other words, could the context permit us to take off the comma without changing the meaning?) |
21-Jul-2003, 13:04
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The presence or absence of a comma makes a difference in the meaning of the sentence. In sentence one, "like" means "in the same manner as".
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21-Jul-2003, 13:06
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| | Re: I teach like him
Thanks! |
21-Jul-2003, 13:10
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| | Re: I teach like him
Welcome!
:)
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22-Jul-2003, 00:37
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However, given the context, I'd say the answer is that he does the same job- the question doesn't call for a description of the way. As punctuation standards are so low and mixed in English, BE at least, then I'd plump for this answer regardless. I can't see the speaker meaning the opposite, but then we BE speakers are a bit sloppy.  |
22-Jul-2003, 14:39
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Quote: |
Originally Posted by tdol However, given the context, I'd say the answer is that he does the same job- the question doesn't call for a description of the way. As punctuation standards are so low and mixed in English, BE at least, then I'd plump for this answer regardless. I can't see the speaker meaning the opposite, but then we BE speakers are a bit sloppy. | I agree with everything you said. (Sometimes I am too picky about punctuation.)
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22-Jul-2003, 20:23
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And I'm a BE speaker. The comma is a hit and miss affair for most here. |
23-Jul-2003, 12:30
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| | Re: I teach like him
It is a well known fact that native English-speakers are sloppy when it comes to using commas in writing (and not only native English-speakers). But I think if you listen to them, you'll be able to hear the commas, and they are used correctly. |
23-Jul-2003, 16:31
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| | Re: I teach like him
I wouldn't ordinarily have thought of punctuation as something that occurs in speech.
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28-Jul-2003, 21:10
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