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Fri 8 Feb, 2008 01:09 pm
John, as well as Peter, is going to the cinema.
Are the commas obligatory? I think so.
Many thanks.
You could say - John, as well as Peter, are going to the cinema.
or - John and Peter are going to the cinema.
Terry R wrote:You could say -
or - John and Peter are going to the cinema.
I'm asking whether commas are needed, not what the sentence means.
John, as well as Peter, are going to the cinema. (The verb should be 'is', not 'are'.)
Sorry Yoong!!
Stick the commas where you want - where has proppa english gone? Is don't makes sense to me
The sentence is awkward.
That being said, the "as well as Peter" is an aside. I think the commas are necessary.
The verb should be "is".
Terry R wrote:Sorry Yoong!!
Stick the commas where you want - where has proppa english gone? Is don't makes sense to me
Stick the commas where you want - where has proppa (proper) english (Englsh) gone?
Is don't makes ('Is' doesn't make) sense to me[/quote]
They, as well as he,
are going.
She, as well as I,
is going.
When you use 'as well as', the verb should agree with the first pronoun.
ebrown_p wrote:The sentence is awkward.
That being said, the "as well as Peter" is an aside. I think the commas are necessary.
The verb should be "is".
Such sentences are commonly used. They are not awkward in the least.
Thanks Yoong. Maybe my English is rusty - I'm am from the 'land down under' afterall. We're possibly years behind the rest of the world here.
Guess I'm outa my league here. Cheers and good luck
Yoong Liat wrote:ebrown_p wrote:The sentence is awkward.
That being said, the "as well as Peter" is an aside. I think the commas are necessary.
The verb should be "is".
Such sentences are commonly used. They are not awkward in the least.
I am just an American. English is my first language. What the hell do I know?
Such sentences are not commonly used, YL, because of the fact that they're awkward. Most of us would reword that. However, to answer your question, yes, the commas are necessary for the reason stated above.
I think that 'awkward' is the wrong word. It's not the normal neutral but it's definitely a common enough collocation.
'as well as' got plenty of hits,
Results 1 - 10 of about 106,000,000 English pages for "as well as ".
Adding 'John' to the mix still produced a sizable number
Results 1 - 10 of about 98,300 English pages for "John, as well as ".
A name not quite as common as John, 'Brian', still did alright.
Results 1 - 10 of about 15,700 English pages for "Brian, as well as ".
Hi Mame
I agree since you and ebrown say so. However, I wonder whether the sentence is awkward in BrE.
I would like to hear the view of a native speaker of BrE.
Best regards
Yes, it sounds awkward to us British English speakers too. One might say: John is going there as well as ...
Or as objects of a verb:
"I saw John yesterday."
"Did you see Steve as well as John?"
McTag wrote:Yoong Liat wrote:Hi Mame
I agree since you and ebrown say so. However, I wonder whether the sentence is awkward in BrE.
I would like to hear the view of a native speaker of BrE.
Best regards
The British, the British, the British are best
I wouldn't give tuppence for all the rest
Hi Mc Tag
You and Clary (a native English speaker) don't agree on this issue.
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