"This makes his job stressful, otherwise it is a pleasant job".

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MeyaN

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"This makes his job stressful, otherwise it is a pleasant job". Is this statement correct?

"This makes his job stressful, which is a pleasant job otherwise". Is placement of 'which' correct grammatically and/ or colloquially?

Is it a must for 'which' to follow a noun?

Thank you.
 
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emsr2d2

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"This makes his job stressful​; otherwise it is a pleasant job".

"This makes his job, [STRIKE]stressful[/STRIKE] which is a pleasant job otherwise, stressful". Is the placement of 'which' correct grammatically and/or colloquially?

Is it a must for 'which' to follow a noun? In your sentence, yes.

Thank you.

See above.
 

MeyaN

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Thank you emsr2d2.

But there is no reference to 'placement' before using it, so how do I know I need to use 'the' before 'placement'?
 

emsr2d2

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There doesn't need to be a previous reference to something to need an article before it.

The placement of commas is difficult for learners.
Is the placement of xxx correct?
I have problems with the placement of apostrophes.
 

MeyaN

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Thank you emsr2d2.

I realised my mistake that there should have been a full stop as they are independent sentences. But, please tell me how was the placement of apostrophes wrong?
 

Matthew Wai

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I think emsr2d2's examples are intended to show the use of the definite article, and there are actually no apostrophes in your sentences.
 

MeyaN

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Oh! Were they only intended to be examples? So, is the usage of comma in my sentence(which is given below for easy reference) correct? I was doubting it as they are stand-alone sentences.
---"But there is no reference to 'placement' before using it, so how do I know I need to use 'the' before 'placement'?"---

Shouldn't 'xxx' in emsrd2's sentence contain apostrophe?

Thank you.
 

emsr2d2

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No. What you're talking about aren't apostrophes. They're quotation marks. I could have written:

Is the placement of "xxx" correct?
or
Is the placement of "which" correct?

Quotation marks might look like two apostrophes next to each other but they have no connection to apostrophes.
 

MeyaN

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Thank you for correcting me. I mistook single quotation marks for apostrophes.
And Isn't double quotation marks are used only when we are quoting others words/ sayings. And single quotation marks to seperate/highlight a word or a phrase from the rest of the sentence?

So, shouldn't it be "Is the placement of 'xxx' correct?"
 

emsr2d2

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It's a matter of personal preference for most people, unless they work somewhere which has a specific style to be used in written pieces. I use double quotation marks only, particularly on this forum when sometimes a single quotation mark doesn't stand out enough for everyone to see, especially if they're viewing the site on a phone.
 

Raymott

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The only problem with using only double quotation marks is that it makes it difficult to quote anything inside an example.
"Is the placement of "xxx" correct?" is wrong.
"Is the placement of 'xxx' correct?" is right.
'Is the placement of "xxx" correct?' is right.
 

emsr2d2

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I was going to add to my post that the only time I find a problem with my choice of double quotation marks all the time is when I want to quote within quotes. When that happens, I usually do use single quotation marks somewhere.
 

GoesStation

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Isn't double quotation marks are used only when we are quoting others words/ sayings. And single quotation marks to seperate/highlight a word or a phrase from the rest of the sentence?

So, shouldn't it be "Is the placement of 'xxx' correct?"

You've described American usage. Brits use quotation marks more flexibly, as emsr2d2 described.

In either style, we alternate between the two types of quotation marks to show quotes within quotes: "Horace Mann said 'Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.'"

Write Aren't double quotation marks used....
 
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