Is a comma needed after 'poles'?

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I stood clinging to one of the metal poles, which helped me balance.

Is a comma needed after 'poles'?

Thanks.

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Type: Question • Score: 6 • Views: 920 • Replies: 18

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@tanguatlay,

Yes Tang. Without the comma there must be a number of poles, all of which help you balance

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Yes Tang. Without the comma there must be a number of poles, all of which help you balance

Thanks, dalehileman.
Is it not possible that there are several poles which help me balance, and the one I was clinging to was one of them?

2 Replies

@tanguatlay,

Without comma, yes

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Thanks, dalehileman.

0 Replies

@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

Is it not possible that there are several poles which help me balance, and the one I was clinging to was one of them?

How would the others help you balance?

1 Reply

@tanguatlay,

bookmark

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@JTT,

Hello, JTT.

Which is the correct sentence to you? Thanks.

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@contrex,

contrex wrote:

tanguatlay wrote:

Is it not possible that there are several poles which help me balance, and the one I was clinging to was one of them?

How would the others help you balance?

Thanks, Contrex.

I meant that there were several poles which could help me balance, and the one I was clinging to was one of them.

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@tanguatlay,

Quote:

I stood clinging to one of the metal poles, which helped me balance.

1A: I stood clinging to one of the metal poles which helped me balance.

I'd say, not with complete assurance mind you, that ..., ..., ...

More thought required on this one.

Quote:

Yes Tang. Without the comma there must be a number of poles, all of which help you balance

With or without a comma, Dale, we know that there is more than one pole. I've taken out the comma in 1A and it doesn't shift the meaning to more than one pole helping 'me' balance.

1 Reply

Quote:

Republican Idiot

How in the hell did this thread ever attract this tag? Jesus Murphy!!!!

1 Reply

@JTT,

I t seems to be appearing on quite a few posts, even crossword questions.

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@JTT,

Quote:

With or without a comma, Dale, we know that there is more than one pole.

Okay, but…..

1A: I stood clinging to one of the metal poles (,) which helped me balance

Quote:

I've taken out the comma in 1A and it doesn't shift the meaning to more than one pole helping 'me' balance.

I disagree JTT. Obviously at the moment he's clinging to just one of them. But the past tense of "helped" suggests a number of poles, some of which have formerly served him and some not

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

Original: I stood clinging to one of the metal poles, which helped me balance.

Quote:

I disagree JTT. Obviously at the moment he's clinging to just one of them. But the past tense of "helped" suggests a number of poles, some of which have formerly served him and some not

Past tense 'helped' makes no reference to, nor does it suggest a number of poles. Does past tense 'helped' in the following sentence suggest a number of poles?

I stood clinging to a metal pole, which helped me balance.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Quote:

Past tense 'helped' makes no reference to, nor does it suggest a number of poles.

That's right, it's modified either by "clinging," "one," or "poles" depending on emphasis and comma

Quote:

Does past tense 'helped' in the following sentence suggest a number of poles?

I stood clinging to a metal pole, which helped me balance.

No of course not

I think JTT we're experiencing a kind of semantic impasse

2 Replies

@dalehileman,

Quote:

That's right, it's modified either by "clinging," "one," or "poles" depending on emphasis and comma

Really, Dale?

clinging helped // one helped // poles helped

What meaning did you have in mind for "modified"?

Quote:

Does past tense 'helped' in the following sentence suggest a number of poles?

I stood clinging to a metal pole, which helped me balance.

Quote:

No of course not

If the verb 'helped' doesn't help your contention here, how could it help in the original?

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

1A: I stood clinging to one of the metal poles (,) which helped me balance

An attempt to clarify: Without the comma, the tense "helped" suggests at least one past experience in which at least one or more of the two or more poles had proven to serve his need and that his last clinging refers only to a stable pole, "helped" referring to "one of the metal poles"

Thus he could have written, "which had helped me balance"; and if only two poles, "one of the two"

Thus I might have stood clinging to one of the two metal poles which had helped me balance. However this is complicated by the inference that both were stable

We must also address the possibility that some of the poles weren't metallic

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@JTT,

Quote:

clinging helped // one helped // poles helped
hat meaning did you have in mind for "modified"?

Forgive me JTT I'm not much of a grammarian, but eg, "helped" is modified by "clinging" if it was mainly the clinging that was helpful, etc

Doubtless there's a better term

Quote:

If the verb 'helped' doesn't help your contention here, how could it help in the original [1A: I stood clinging to one of the metal poles (,) which helped me balance]?

By residing in past tense thereby suggesting a past experience in which some of the poles weren't helpful. The present tense "help," on the other hand, might imply that he actually had hoped to grasp two of the more stable poles in order to feel secure but could reach only one; in which case of course he might better have ssaid, "which had helped me"

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

a past experience in which some of the poles weren't helpful.

I once got lost in Warsaw and everybody I met was really helpful.

0 Replies

Is a comma needed after 'poles'?

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