John as well as Peter was there.

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Tan Elaine

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John, as well as Peter, was there.

John as well as Peter was there.

Which is the correct sentence, the first with commas or the other without commas?

Thanks.
 

Route21

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As an NES but not a teacher,of the two options given, I would prefer No. 1, with the inserted text in parentheses.

I would, however have normally put the item in parenthesis at the end of the sentence in such a case.

Regards
R21
 

5jj

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This is the sort of sentence that crops up in some exercises to test either the use of commas or the number of the verb. It's pretty pointless as few native speakers would ever utter such a sentence. We'd put the 'as well as X' at the beginning, followed by a comma or, as R21 said, at the end.
 

Tan Elaine

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Thanks, 5jj.

Do you mean that native speakers write:

As well as John, Peter was there.
John was there, as well as Peter.
 
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Tan Elaine

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Could someone please help? Thanks.
 

Route21

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5jj has already confirmed that they are both possible options and also said that it's pretty pointless, as "few native speakers would ever utter such a sentence".

If forced to chose, I would have gone for option 2, as the lesser of two evils, but would have probably actually said "Peter and John were both there".

R21
 
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