₦airaland Forum

rapmike:
Okay, so it was not Abel that wrote it.

I guess not.

seunviju:
Bi a se npana ikan ni ikan ru si(as one fire is being quenched another is being light up.you are doing great mr Larry,keep it up

Thank you, ma'm.

Adinije:
Larry I lost here o! Hannah confirmed the corpse to be her son through a large scar on his thigh and now koffo's son was now the deceased. How come?

Lol! *in Majek Fashek's voice* Little, little patience.

pricelesslove:
Hmmm I'm speechless. Oga Larry u too much.

Thank you, ma'am.

Flakeey:
pls dear send to me too
flakeey@gmail.com

The e-mail account does not exist.

Marcela04:
Larry, Larry, Larry Sun, u ve done well nd u are just 2 good 2 b true bt wat of Mark

You shall know about him. Soon.

Essyydiamond:
I love twists.a load of it but only in my stories o. I dnt want all those twists in my life.

Life is full of twists and turns.

Adinije:
Hmmm I wonder what Abel's confession would be. But then Larry Catholic Priest DO NOT give away somebody's confession no matter what, even when they know how useful the information, even after the death of the confessor except he(the confessor) permits. I think u should do some adjustment. Still my opinion though. Anyway waiting eagerly for Abel's confession.

It happens, perhaps in fictions. It happened in Alan Folsom's Day of Confession.

Talk2david1:
Ook,I, must confess,am speechless.. Larry, u too much!!

Thank you, sir.

MrNiceGuy5:
Nice one bro - am loving it. I read the Brand of Cain and I was like............ nice job bro

Thank you, sir.

seunviju:
Nawa o,this is serious.Thanks for the update

Thanks a lot, dear.

Iaz93:
Hehe! You have a way of rendering most of our thoughts useless.

Lol! I blame my thick skull.

drsolob2:
Wow this is sweet but I hope this is not the end of the story.

It's not the end until after the prologue.

alomosweets:
Sorry my comment is almost as lengthy as an update. Do forgive me. One can't help these things.

And uhm, on to the prequel. Sighs. Another whole day in bed, eh?

More grease, Larry. Brutally intelligent work.

You'll be enchanted, trust me.

alomosweets:
2 mugs of coffee and a sleepless night after... ( Wow!)

We're all now on the same page. This piece is a wowzer. It's the first of your stories I've ever read. I honestly don't get how you eluded me this long. ( Same here. I'm glad I met you too)

Simply amazing. I can only imagine how much of your brain battery putting this together must have drained. May God replenish you in full. Amen. ( Thank you, ma'am)

Hannah is one of a kind. She may be the villain and all but she's my best character. I might even love her. Such witty and calculating humans are rare. ( Things we do for love)

And Remi and Ariel? I feel happy for them. True love. Famous must be heartbroken. I just hope he doesn't take his cue from the almighty ZB to start another killing spree. His motive would be obvious. If that happens LarrySun, no need for Lot (Naija's own Sherlock Holmes). Just call me, y'hear? ( He dare not)

Great work. I'm inspired. Thank you. ( Thank you more)

Bless you, ma'am.

Adinije:
Koffo's confession unraveled. Waiting for others. More ink in pen bro.

Soon, ma'am.

Can't wait.

Wow! Such a lovely writing style. Such an amazing writer.

The suspense gradually builds up. You rock, ma'am.

It's quite funny how these women with strange monikers turn out to be wonderful writers. Ishilove. Whitemosquito. Alomosweets. Lol!

labaski:
she is one hell of a crazy woman..nice work larry..

pls, i ll like to v d 'The Brand of Cain' sent to my email too. titilope.ifekoya@gmail.com thanks.

Sent.

zyzxx:
yes u do...
My brain stick to what u said b4 dat u will just explain two.

Am so glad sir dat u take ur time to write dis, more wisdom, knowledge and understanding amen.

Thank you, sir.

zyzxx:
thanks larrysun. U add to my knowledge, thanks. but am not ok with you explaining just 2 punctuation mark.


Thanks

I'm so sorry, sir. But I explained three.

Jiteshell:
Can you also send to me? Jiteomare@yahoo.com. Please

Sent.

The Semicolon

The semicolon can be regarded as something between the full stop and the comma in value, though it is used much less frequently than either. It has a definite use, however—for instance, when a slight break in a sentence is preferable to a new sentence.

The following are legitimate examples of the use of the semicolon.

The positive influence of the Nairaland Literature Section surpasses by far the ones of all other social network sites in Africa; since the past year many writers have improved tremendously in their craft, while some other few being held down by ego still remain at a standstill.

The proposed aim of this workshop is to help budding writers who wish to hone their skills; but only very little can be done to those who shy away sacrifice and knowledge.

Mr OMA4U believed that a significant amount of some poems could amount to nonsense if they were not properly lined; his arguer contended that, if one reader found one poem deplorable, another might consider it a classic.

None of my friends was kind; AudreyTimms, for example, threatened to come after me with a cutlass.

Misuse of the Semicolon

It is wrong to use a semicolon where a comma should be used in the normal way. One fault which is not uncommon is to use the relative pronoun after such a misused semicolon, as in the following sentences:

We give our readers a plethora of information and entertainment; which they accept gratefully as if they were a handful of gold.

SammyHoe took his wife to a remote village in Sambisa; where it may be assumed, they were safe from the attentions of the press.

The writer of the book in question is PrettySpicey; who, it will be conceded, has some brilliant ink in her pen.

In each of these sentences a comma should be used instead of the semicolon.

In enumerations, semicolons should be used only if comma would cause confusion, but they are often used in passages where commas would do. Look at this:

Having plotted her story brilliantly; having introduced enough suspense; having taken every step to create an astonishing denouement, having taken enough time to wrap up all the loose ends, Repogirl made herself known with her writing gift.

The first two semicolons are unnecessary. To be consistent in his practice, moreover, the writer of this commendation should have used a semicolon after ‘ends’. The use of a comma here groups the final clause (Repogirl made herself known with her writing gift.) only with the last item of the enumeration (having taken enough time to wrap up all the loose ends), whereas the writer’s intention is to group it with all the items.

I think I should stop here, for it would take me forever to explain the remaining punctuation marks. I hope this little epistle helps anyway. Thank you, God bless you.

Zyzxx, I see you. Thanks for being the first person to like my posts.

Larry Sun

The Comma with Numerals

Though it does not come with the sphere of grammar, the use of a comma with numerals should be mentioned briefly.

It is customary to divide a number into its thousands by the comma. Exceptions are dates (for example, 2000 BC and AD 1914) and reference numbers (for example, Model No. 3652).

It is interesting that while the Americans use the comma to divide the thousands and the full stop for the decimal point (85,617.23), European practice is the opposite (85.617,23). Alternatively, Europeans use a space to group the digits in a number with five or more figures (56 423, 75).

Now, the question is, why do we follow the American system of numbering when, contrarily, we adopt the European choice of words?

I need Soyinka to answer this question.

The Comma with Quotations

The comma can be used to introduce quoted speeches, as in:

As Rock555 saw me he said, ‘Where the hell have you been, Larry?'

If a quotation is broken, however, commas must be used, as in the following:

‘Before you go,’ said Dygeasy, ‘you must woo a lady.’

Enumeration of Adjectives

If you have doubts about the use of the comma in the enumeration of adjectives, a safe and simple rule is this. If there are only two adjectives, omit the comma, as in:

A hot dry day.

If there are three or more adjectives in a row, use commas after all except the last, as in:

A hot, dry, dusty day.

You would write a sticky sweet mixture.

But:

A sticky sweet, warm, mysterious mixture.

With two adjectives you can use and if you wish, just as in the previous paragraph:

This is just a safe and simple rule.

Misuse of the Comma

Many people have a habit of separating a simple subject from its verb by a comma and you find sentences of this kind:

My uncle and cousin, were going to the farm.

It is difficult to understand this error. Not only is the comma grammatically unjustified—it has no function for grouping or for parenthesis.

Another common error is to misuse a comma in certain cases with a participle. Here are some examples:

My guest, having gone home, I went to bed.

Mr Obinnau, being a moderator, we solicit his attention.

These sentences, as written, are logically wrong. Each is a case of cause-and effect grouping, the grouping being decided by the comma.

The subject of the first sentence is ‘I’ and the subject of the second sentence is ‘we’. The other parts of the sentences, the groups dependent on the participle ‘having’ and ‘being’, are subordinates. The sentences should be punctuated thus:

My guest having gone home, I went to bed.

Mr Obinnau, being a moderator, we solicit his attention.

Now, the following sentences are quite all right:

My guest, having gone home, arrived to find his house on fire.

Mr Obinnau, being a moderator, is always ready to help.

The subjects of the sentences are now ‘My guest’ and ‘Mr Obinnau’. The phrases ‘having gone home’ and ‘being the moderator’ are now parentethical, and are therefore put between pairs of commas.

I can recall a notice I found in the bedroom of one hotel I patronized (don't start having ideas in your brilliant heads ) because I wrote it down. Whoever had scribbled that must have been too intoxicated to notice his errors.

If you wish to stay beyond the period booked, it is essential, that, you contact reception office, on the evening before the original, departure date. Providing that, the room is still available, we will of course be pleased to help you. If not, we must hold you to the original booking.

There are, of course, far too many commas in this notice, and the word notify would be preferable to the word contact. A better version of the same notice would be this:

If you wish to stay beyond the period booked it is essential that you contact reception office on the evening before the originally-planned departure date. Provided that the room is still available, we shall, of course, be pleased to help you. If the room is not available we must hold you to the original booking.

This is a better form. The much-misused ‘Providing that…’ has been replaced with ‘Provided that’. The present participle providing needs an attachment, such as the person pronoun I in the following:

Providing Dyoungstar with my friend’s number, I asked him to text her.