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Re: punctuation question for xxx(xx?). (is the ? correct)
Subject:Re: punctuation question for xxx(xx?). (is the ? correct) From:Kathleen MacDowell <kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com> To:dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com Date:Wed, 21 Jan 2009 13:12:14 -0600
Because the parenthetical is a complete sentence and a question, I "think"
it should begin with a cap and end with a question mark within the parens
(Haven't...?).
But with that construction, I'm not sure if the period for the first
sentence MUST be placed before the beginning of the parenthetical; I think
I've seen it both ways, though one might be the correct and the other
incorrect.
I think, though, I'd set it up with two complete sentences, or with an
em-dash
The potential for human error is greatâhaven't we all learned that the
hard way?
rather than as a parenthetical. Both the semi-colon and parenthetical make
me feel like the sentence could be deleted without losing anything.
Regards,
Kathleen
On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Deborah Hemstreet <
dvora -at- tech-challenged -dot- com> wrote:
> How would you punctuate the following sentence?
>
> The potential for human error is great (haven't we all learned that the
> hard way?).
>
> Thanks!
>
> Deborah
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>
--
Kathleen MacDowell
www.writefortheuser.com
kathleen -at- writefortheuser -dot- com
kathleen -dot- eamd -at- gmail -dot- com
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