Grammarly Blog | Grammar & Writing

This is a very popular post, and we have preserved the original punctuation.  Personally, however, I think the punctuation of the male perspective is misleading. One could argue that, from the male perspective, “without her man” is a defining modification clarifying exactly which woman—“a woman without her man.” If that is the case, it would be perfectly fine to write: “A woman without her man is nothing.”  For a defining relative clause, commas are not needed to separate it from the main clause. With the commas, the relative clause reads as non-defining, implying that a woman is nothing and just happens to also be without a man. How would you punctuate it?
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This is a very popular post, and we have preserved the original punctuation. 

Personally, however, I think the punctuation of the male perspective is misleading. One could argue that, from the male perspective, “without her man” is a defining modification clarifying exactly which woman—“a woman without her man.” If that is the case, it would be perfectly fine to write:

“A woman without her man is nothing.” 

For a defining relative clause, commas are not needed to separate it from the main clause. With the commas, the relative clause reads as non-defining, implying that a woman is nothing and just happens to also be without a man.

How would you punctuate it?

58 Notes/ Hide

  1. folhadearvore reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  2. pandaqueer answered: A woman without — her man is nothing.
  3. thesoundofrain reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  4. theredpensociety reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  5. mita56 reblogged this from grammarlyblog and added:
    for my daughter-in-law...know. Especially...strong ones. And...
  6. itsyouandmeuntilthestarsburnout reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  7. beautifulcheat reblogged this from grammarlyblog
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  9. thesurrealreal reblogged this from thelasthairbender
  10. mandywithawhy answered: A woman without; her man is nothing.
  11. thelasthairbender reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  12. notpumpkin reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  13. abclifeinletters reblogged this from grammarlyblog
  14. saphmira reblogged this from grammarlyblog

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