Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

Are these two sentences correct? What's the difference between them?

A. He still cannot speak a meaningful word.

B. He cannot speak a meaningful word yet.

Thanks for your help!

Leslie
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Less Is Blessed

[damon@English24/7]

They are correct except that you should have a comma (,) before yet.

damon

[Mister Micawber]

.
Why do we need a comma there, Damon?
.
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"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
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Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[asterix]

I think yet also implies that at some point he will be able to speak a meaningful word, but still does not have that implication.

[lotus]

Hi Leslie,

The sentences seem fine as they are. I might re-phrase them as:

He still cannot say anything meaningful.

He hasn't said anything meaningful yet.


The difference is as Asterix described.



--lotus

[damon@English24/7]

You are right, Mr Micawber. The sentence doesn`t need a comma. I don`t know where I picked that up. Thanks for setting me straight.

damon