Monique Daniels heartbroken her mother [...]

[Ostap]

Monique Daniels heartbroken her mother won't be here to welcome her fourth grandchild to the world.

timecode

Hello, teachers. I couldn't make sense of the first half of the sentence above for some time, keeping listening to it, until I realized that the meaning is roughly:

Monique Daniels is heartbroken because her mother (...)

But I still don't know what the proper punctuation for this part would be in writing.

Maybe like this? (in green)

Monique Daniels, heartbroken: her mother won't be (...)

 

[SoothingDave]

She is heartbroken about the fact that her mother will not be here. A simple "that" clears up the sentence.

 

[Ostap]

She is heartbroken about the fact that her mother will not be here. A simple "that" clears up the sentence.

The way she spoke that sentence, is it idiomatic?

 

[jutfrank]

I hear this:

Monique Daniels, heartbroke at her mother, won't be here ...

But that doesn't make sense. The odd pause that sounds like the second comma might be the result of the reporter being a non-native speaker. What I've transcribed as at must be that for it to make sense.

 

[tedmc]

The way she spoke that sentence, is it idiomatic?

It is not grammatical without the auxilliary verb "is" which Dave has put in.

 

[Ostap]

I hear this:

Monique Daniels, heartbroke at her mother ...

But if she said that (as a non-native speaker I still hear "heartbroken"), what would that mean? Is "heartbroke" a simple past verb? In a phrase starting with "at", I'd expect "at her mother's death".

It is not grammatical without the auxilliary verb "is" which Dave has put in.

(I put "is" in there in my first post too)
So you're saying that that news reporter made a mistake, or a slip of tongue?

 

[jutfrank]

But if she said that (as a non-native speaker I still hear "heartbroken"), what would that mean?

As I said, I hear heartbroke at her mother, but I guess she's really saying heartbroke that her mother ...

Is "heartbroke" a simple past verb?

Yes. It should be heartbroken, the past participle form.

In a phrase starting with "at", I'd expect "at her mother's death".

Me too. Anyway, at doesn't make sense.

So you're saying that that news reporter made a mistake, or a slip of tongue?

Yes. There's at least one mistake there, I think.

 

[Ostap]

Yes. There's at least one mistake there, I think.

Wouldn't a comma with a dash or colon fix it?

Monique Daniels, heartbroken -- her mother (...)
Monique Daniels, heartbroken: her mother (...)

 

[jutfrank]

Yes.