"He cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him when he was a POW."
Okay monkeyman, give this to your wife if you must, but it is pretty clear that Rico said McCain cheated when he was a POW.
Bro. Eastman, I love you but Rico is right on this one.
You have concurrent prepositional phrases. The last two "with him" and "when he was a POW" modify the first one "who stuck it out". "When he was a POW" is serving as an adverb phrase telling when she stuck it out. If he desired it to be an adverb phrase modifying the verb "cheated", then his placement would have been incorrect. In that case he should have written "When he was a POW, he cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him".
__________________
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
Bro. Eastman, I love you but Rico is right on this one.
You have concurrent prepositional phrases. The last two "with him" and "when he was a POW" modify the first one "who stuck it out". "When he was a POW" is serving as an adverb phrase telling when she stuck it out. If he desired it to be an adverb phrase modifying the verb "cheated", then his placement would have been incorrect. In that case he should have written "When he was a POW, he cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him".
Brother, I can look at a sentence and tell if its structure is correct, but I can't explain the rules of sentence structure. One of my biggest problems is that I have a tendency to write run on sentences. I also have a tendency to use too many commas. Another problem I have is not knowing when it's best to start a new paragraph.
Brother, I can look at a sentence and tell if its structure is correct, but I can't explain the rules of sentence structure. One of my biggest problems is that I have a tendency to write run on sentences. I also have a tendency to use too many commas. Another problem I have is not knowing when it's best to start a new paragraph.
This would have been a real funny post if you had written it all as one big run-on sentence
For some reason English and Grammar were always my favorite areas of study. I proofread things all the time.
__________________
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
This would have been a real funny post if you had written it all as one big run-on sentence
For some reason English and Grammar were always my favorite areas of study. I proofread things all the time.
I thought about it, but decided against it.
Oddly enough, posting on these forums has helped me develop better writing skills. I particularly like reading Miss Brattified's posts. She uses excellent sentence structure and is very good at making a point without it being too wordy.
"He cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him when he was a POW."
Okay monkeyman, give this to your wife if you must, but it is pretty clear that Rico said McCain cheated when he was a POW.
I usually don't jump in on grammar police threads but since this one is agonizing on, I'll go ahead and agree with Tstew and Monkeyman.
It's pretty clear if you read the sentence carefully, that "cheated on" is the verb describing what "he" did to "the woman". Your mistake was in relaying that verb action to "when he was a POW". That's not how the sentece was formed or meant to read. "stuck it out" is the only applying verb to "when he was a POW".
"cheated" had nothing to do with "when he was a POW". A pat on the back and a free "Birthday Song" performance awaits the person who can diagram my sentences and all of my grammatical errors.
I usually don't jump in on grammar police threads but since this one is agonizing on, I'll go ahead and agree with Tstew and Monkeyman.
It's pretty clear if you read the sentence carefully, that "cheated on" is the verb describing what "he" did to "the woman". Your mistake was in relaying that verb action to "when he was a POW". That's not how the sentece was formed or meant to read. "stuck it out" is the only applying verb to "when he was a POW".
"cheated" had nothing to do with "when he was a POW".
I wasn't going to say anything, but it was going on for a while and appeared to be nearing blows. I just want us all to get along.
__________________
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
I wasn't going to say anything, but it was going on for a while and appeared to be nearing blows. I just want us all to get along.
If that's what you guys consider "nearing blows" you should have been around when tv was the topic of discussion!
Seriously though, Brother Eastman is a good man who feels like he's defending the honor of a Vietnam vet. I don't fault him for that. However, I know how to insult someone when that is my intent. Had I intended to say he cheated on his wife while he was a POW, I would have made it perfectly clear.
If that's what you guys consider "nearing blows" you should have been around when tv was the topic of discussion!
Seriously though, Brother Eastman is a good man who feels like he's defending the honor of a Vietnam vet. I don't fault him for that. However, I know how to insult someone when that is my intent. Had I intended to say he cheated on his wife while he was a POW, I would have made it perfectly clear.
Now are you calling his wife a "he"? Where will your disrespect end?
__________________
There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Chuck Norris lives in Houston.
Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States. – W.E.B. DuBois
Bro. Eastman, I love you but Rico is right on this one.
You have concurrent prepositional phrases. The last two "with him" and "when he was a POW" modify the first one "who stuck it out". "When he was a POW" is serving as an adverb phrase telling when she stuck it out. If he desired it to be an adverb phrase modifying the verb "cheated", then his placement would have been incorrect. In that case he should have written "When he was a POW, he cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him".
The problem with Rico's prepositional phrase; "when he was a POW", is incomplete which leads the reader to believe he cheated on his wife when he was a POW. How can McCain cheat on his wife "when" he was a POW? (unless of course he had homosexual tendancies towards his fellow soldiers) Rico might as well have said "McCain cheated on his wife "when" he was in prison". No matter how you slice what Rico said, there was a lack of clarity on the sentence itself. He could've said "He cheated on the woman who stuck it out with him 'after' he was a POW". I'm sorry, but this makes more sense in how the truth is conveyed than how Rico worded his sentence.
Again, I was content on letting the subject drop, but someone had to bring it up again for whatever reason. I do not typically care about the perfection of someone's grammar unless there is a possibility that someone could believe something that was not intended.
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