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From: Einde O'Callaghan <eindeoc@freenet.de>
Newsgroups: alt.languages.english
Subject: Re: Usage of "or" and punctuation
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:52:11 +0200
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G. Acharya wrote:
> On Apr 9, 2:10 pm, Einde O'Callaghan <eind...@freenet.de> wrote:
>> G. Acharya wrote:
>>> On Apr 9, 1:21 pm, "G. Acharya" <ganeshjacha...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Apr 7, 12:20 am, Einde O'Callaghan <eind...@freenet.de> wrote:
>>>>> G. Acharya wrote:
>>>>>> Is there a punctuation to add to distinguish the following
>>>>>> 1st e.g.
>>>>>> A or B can be used
>>>>>> ================
>>>>>> A results in some problem. B results some other problem and both A and
>>>>>> B can be used.
>>>>>> 2nd e.g
>>>>>> A or The first alphabet
>>>>>> =================
>>>>>> A is the first alphabet in the English language. This is the first
>>>>>> letter the student of English language learns.
>>>>> I think this should be "A or the first letter of the alphabet" which
>>>>> means tha A is another way of describing the first describing the first
>>>>> letter of teh alphabet. A cannot be an alphabet since it is just one
>>>>> letter. The alphabet used for English has 26 letters. Other languages
>>>>> have larger or smaller alphabet.
>>>> So, is there no way in English to solve this ambiguity?
>>> I meant the "or" ambiguity, to decide if its used to "explain further"
>>> or, used in-order to "state alternatives"
>> The problem is that with your exmples you don't give full sentences.
>> I'll try to illustrate how to deal with the ambiguity.
>>
>> "A or B can be used to deal with the problem."
>>
>> "A, or the first letter of the alphabet, is frequently used ..."
>>
> Perfect, can you lead me to any online document that explains these in
> details? thanks a lot for you help.
I'm afraid I don't know a reliable website that deals with these
questions. The best guide I know to questions of English usage is
Michael Swan: Practical English Usage (Oxford University Press).
Regards, Einde O'Callaghan
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