Heres the part of the sentence, I showed two ways of writing it but I'm not sure which is right or if they are both wrong. Please help! Here they are:
...that could, most likely, be beneficial...
...that could most likely be beneficial...
2007-05-13 11:18:08 · 3 answers · asked by marie 2 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Ignore both the two previous answers. Comma usage in written English has absolutely nothing to do with pauses in spoken English--following that rule of thumb will steer you wrong at least as often as it will give you the right answer.
Neither of the two ways you have written the sentence is grammatically incorrect: you may set off the adverbial phrase "most likely" with two commas, treating it as an appositive, or you may omit the commas. My own preference would be not to include the commas, but if for some reason you want to emphasize the phrase "most likely," it might be better to include them.
2007-05-13 12:09:24 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Emmy is right in one way, wrong in another. You do put commas where there is a natural pause. The question is: Do you pause when you read this? Do you say: '...that could (pause) most likely (pause) be beneficial...'? If so, use commas. Do you charge right through it and say it without a pause? If so, no commas.
Either could be used - depends on your intent.
ADDED:
If a comma is present and you DO NOT pause - however slightly - when reading the passage, either you are reading it improperly or it is incorrectly punctuated. If no comma is present and you DO pause - however slightly - the same is true; you are reading it improperly or it is incorrectly punctuated.
2007-05-13 11:27:01 · answer #2 · answered by dollhaus 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
the first one is correct. you should always put commas where you pause naturally when reading the sentence.
2007-05-13 11:20:02 · answer #3 · answered by Emmy 2 · 2⤊ 1⤋