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Original poster

What's wrong with this sentence?

113 replies

MsAwesomeDragon · 15/09/2019 20:25

This is part of dd2s homework. She needs to identify three errors in this sentence, but she (and I) can only find 2.

The police managed to seize the robber and return Ellies handbag

OP posts:
MoMandaS · 15/09/2019 20:27

Full stop, apostrophe and comma before 'and'.

dementedpixie · 15/09/2019 20:28

Which ones have you identified? Is it punctuation related?

TooMuch87 · 15/09/2019 20:28

I don’t know, I can only see the two obvious ones.

TheCatsACunt · 15/09/2019 20:29

Yup.

It’s should read-

The police managed to seize the robber, and return Ellie’s handbag.

MoMandaS · 15/09/2019 20:29

Personally, I wouldn't use a coma there but it's the only thing I can see they might be looking for!

dementedpixie · 15/09/2019 20:29

Would you really put a comma before and?

MoMandaS · 15/09/2019 20:29

*comma

Singlenotsingle · 15/09/2019 20:31

I can only see one. Ellie's.

Kanga83 · 15/09/2019 20:31

The police managed to seize the robber, and return Ellie's handbag.

TooMuch87 · 15/09/2019 20:33

I really don’t think there needs to be a comma before ‘and’.

poppym12 · 15/09/2019 20:33

I wouldn't use the comma either. Are they perhaps expect police to have a capital P? I don't think it should unless it's referring to a particular force but I'm old so things may have changed a lot since my O levels.

Babdoc · 15/09/2019 20:34

Alternatively, “The police managed to seize the robber and returned Ellie’s handbag.”

Original poster
MsAwesomeDragon · 15/09/2019 20:35

I didn't think there needed to be a comma before and. It's connecting 2 parts of a sentence. I would never have used a comma there.

Learn something new every day. Albeit something I've obviously never needed to know (despite getting an A* in English GCSE, and getting a degree).

OP posts:
Original poster
MsAwesomeDragon · 15/09/2019 20:37

Thanks everyone. We've gone with putting a comma in, as DD and I really don't care whether it's right which is a terrible thing for a teacher to say!

OP posts:
MrsJoshNavidi · 15/09/2019 20:38

It needs a comma before the and if the seizing of the robber and the returning of the handbag are unrelated.
ie the police seized the robber, and (separately) the police returned the handbag.

I can't see anything else other than the apostrophe either. And a full stop if there's not one in the original.

Soontobe60 · 15/09/2019 20:39

A comma before and isn't necessary, but isn't incorrect either.

Kanga83 · 15/09/2019 20:39

You use a comma before any coordinating conjunction such as 'and' which links two independent clauses in the same sentence. There are two here. The first, the police caught the robber. The second, the returned the handbag.

flumpybear · 15/09/2019 20:41

Capital P for police?!

Original poster
MsAwesomeDragon · 15/09/2019 20:43

We spotted the full stop and apostrophe straight away. DD did that on her own, but obviously neither of us thought the comma was necessary. Never mind, she's got it done now thanks to Mumsnet.

I do use punctuation by the way, I just don't very often write sentences like that.

OP posts:
TooMuch87 · 15/09/2019 20:49

I read the sentence as ‘the police managed to (a) seize the robber and (b) return the handbag’. Which is why I didn’t think it needed a comma. If anything I’d go with a PP’s suggestion and say ‘returned the handbag’.

Scruffalicious · 15/09/2019 20:51

Does the teacher perhaps think that 'seize' should follow the 'i before e, except after c' rule?

ZeldaPrincessOfHyrule · 15/09/2019 21:00

Capital letter for Police, maybe?

Original poster
MsAwesomeDragon · 15/09/2019 21:01

Ooh scruff you might have it! They were working on I before e except after c all week, so it might just be that. All the other sentences did have an I before e spelling mistake too.

But seize is definitely right, and I'll be rather cross if that is what they're supposed to notice. I hope it's the comma I didn't think we needed.

OP posts:
ItsGoingTibiaK · 15/09/2019 21:29

@Kanga83 You use a comma before any coordinating conjunction such as 'and' which links two independent clauses in the same sentence.

They're not independent clauses, as they can't both stand on their own:

  • The police managed to seize the robber.
  • Return Ellie's handbag.

The the fact that the subject (the police) is implied isn't enough to make it an independent clause, it would have to be something like:

"The police managed to seize the robber, and Ellie was reunited with her handbag."

This does have two independent clauses:

  • The police managed to seize the robber.
  • Ellie was reunited with her handbag.

So because the comma isn't a requirement, I'm also leaning towards the teacher mistakingly thinking that 'seize' is incorrect.

RuggyPeg · 15/09/2019 21:35

You do not use a comma before and (or before but for that matter). It seems to have crept into common usage and many people now mistakenly believe it to be correct but it bloody well isn't 😠 It makes me irrationally angry.......

That said, I can't spot a third mistake in the sentence.