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Comma troubles - VS

Posted: Jan 28, 2010

Doctor diagnosed tachycardia, atherosclerotic heart disease, post angioplasty for coronary heart disease, history of alcohol abuse, and asthma. I'm confused... should there be a comma between disease and post angioplasty? Plz help.

I vote yes - je suis MT

[ In Reply To ..]
But do not have a reference at hand to give you. I would also hyphenate "doctor-diagnosed" but know there are other schools of thought on this. Good luck:)

Comma troubles - VS

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks for your input. I agree that "doctor-diagnosed" should be hyphenated, but others have told me that they wouldn't put the hyphen. This is for my school and they seem to have different rules, so I'm not sure which way to go.

BOS re: hyphens - je suis MT

[ In Reply To ..]
Here's part of what the BOS has to say about hyphens. My input is based on my interpretation of the term "doctor-diagnosed" to mean "diagnosed by a doctor" (as opposed to the source for the diagnosis being unknown). Again, I know there are differing opinions and interpretations, and I am not an expert at parsing sentences. If this is for school work, it's best to ask your instructor for guidance.

6.5.2 Compound Modifiers

Perhaps no other area of language causes greater confusion than the application of hyphens in compound modifiers. The rules for retaining the compounding hyphen when the elements of the compound do not precede the nouns they modify depend greatly on (a) a keen understanding of parts of speech, and (b) an ability to determine the role of those compound elements when they are cast away from their nouns.

A compound modifier, or compound adjective, consists of two or more words that function as a unit and jointly modify a noun or pronoun. An important reminder is that the words that make up the modifier may or may not be adjectives themselves. It is only when they are combined with other words that the resulting compound becomes a single adjectival expression modifying a noun or pronoun. Compound modifiers are derived from and take the place of adjectival phrases and clauses.

EXAMPLE

Adjective Phrase/Clause
window that is on the second floor
mass whose density is high
a gown that is as long as the floor
display that catches the eye
Compound Adjective
second-floor window
high-density mass
floor-length gown
eye-catching display

Comma troubles - VS

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for the info. I agree with you on this one, as that is the way I am reading it also.

I also vote yes to the comma - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

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