- From: Adam Kuehn <akuehn@nc.rr.com>
- Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2005 10:49:54 -0500
- To: Elliotte Harold <elharo@metalab.unc.edu>, www-style@w3.org
Elliotte Harold wrote: >I think the commas are misplaced in this sentence from section 3: > >For example, in HTML, element names are case-insensitive, but in >XML, they are case-sensitive. > >I think this should be > >For example, in HTML element names are case-insensitive; but in XML >they are case-sensitive. Although most authorities agree that the commas after "HTML" and "XML" are optional, including them is grammatically correct and in this case is probably the better practice. On first encountering this sentence, a reader may well interpret "in HTML element names" as a complete phrase and only re-think that construction upon reaching the word "and". Using the comma following each brief introductory phrase prevents this from happening. (Incidentally, your proposed alternative is probably incorrect, as well. The semicolon should be a comma in your proposed phrasing, according to most style guides. One would use a semicolon only if the conjunction were removed.) Pedantically yours, -Adam Kuehn
Received on Thursday, 29 December 2005 15:50:12 UTC