Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[BMO]

Is the following correct?

More than 2.5 million people from south Florida to Daytona Beach were told to flee their homes, the largest evacuation in state history.

The above is copied from a newspaper. How is "the largest evacuation ....." connected to the first sentence? Is it better to use a dash or colon instead of a comma after homes?

Thanks.

[resonant]

Surely it seems strange in that way.Hmmm,let me think,but I'm not that positive.You know I'm a EFL

[asterix]

More than 2.5 million people from south Florida to Daytona Beach were told to flee their homes, the largest evacuation in state history.

This is incorrect English. the largest evacuation in state history is a sentence fragment that is unconnected to the previous part.
It should be written like this:
More than 2.5 million people from south Florida to Daytona Beach, were told to flee their homes. IT IS the largest evacuation in state history.

OR you could write - IN the largest evacuation in state history, more than 2.5 million people, from South Florida to Daytona Beach, were told to flee their homes.

The kind of lazy English you have spotted is so prevalent in newspapers, that it even has its own name - ""journalese".

[BMO]

Hey, thanks a lot. I thought it looked strange even to an ESL learner. Thanks for the explanations.

BMO

[LucentShade]

asterix is right in that it is not technically correct English. The sentence relies on the context and the reader's understanding to state an implied meaning. One other way could be: "More than 2.5 million people from South Florida to Daytona Beach were told to flee their homes; [this evacuation was] the largest (evacuation) in state history. " The assumption is that the reader will understand that the event described is an evacuation, so they don't repeat it before "the largest . . ." where I have it in brackets [].

[BMO]

Yes, and certainly a semi colon, dash or colon in its place is better than a coma.

Thanks a lot.

BMO

[LucentShade]

For some reason I can't explain (perhaps because I'm a native speaker), a dash seems like the best way to make the sentence work without adding new words. It would still not be completely correct, though.

[BMO]

Okay, got it and thanks again.

BMO