comma/not before 'because' [meaning; conjunction]: marry her, because

bg1996

bg1996

Senior Member
Cantonese,Mandarin;Kwangtung/Guangdong,hk
1 "He didn't marry her, because she was frivolous."
2 "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous."
3 "He didn't marry her not because she was frivolous."

Someone told me these sentences have different meanings, right?

Then, in No3, the "," isn't a must as the meanings are same.

My questions are:
Which one is sure to say he didn't marry her? Someone said No2 only had said "His reason for marrying her was independent of her frivolity." and he hadn't still made his decision.

Please talk about that according to your viewpoint.
 
    • The best sentence is No 2 - which conveys that he did not marry her as she was frivolous. No 1 is grammatically incorrect, as the comma (,) is not required in this sentence. No 3 is awkard and I would take to mean - he did not marry her but this was due to some other reason than the fact she was frivolous.
     
    bg1996 said:
    1 "He didn't marry her, because she was frivolous."
    2 "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous."
    3 "He didn't marry her not because she was frivolous."
    Click to expand...

    In my opinion,

    1. He did not marry her. The reason he did not marry her, is because she was frivolous.

    2. This is ambiguous. This could mean the same as #1, however it could also mean that he DID marry her, but not because of the reason that she was frivolous.

    3. Most likely: He did not marry her. The reason he did not marry her, is for some reason other than the fact that she was frivolous. But, it's also a bit ambiguous for the same reason as #2.

    To answer your question, only in #1 is it crystal clear that he did not marry her.
     
    Series, your reply is interesting.

    I just thought No3 said he hadn't married her, but the reason wasn't that she was frivolous. And No2 has three different meanings.

    I agree on your opinions about 1&2, but is there different when you read them aloud?
     
    #3 is honestly hard for me to comprehend because there is a double negative, and it's very hard to work out the exact meaning without context :)

    You're right, the whole thing is quite ambiguous when said aloud, however, consider this:

    1. "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous."
    2. "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous, but because she was beautiful".

    The first, when said, sounds like he didn't marry her for that reason, although who would know.
    In the second, it's clear that he did marry her, because of the context.

    When said aloud, it definitely depends on context.
     
    3 "He didn't marry her not because she was frivolous."
    This is not a "normal" double negative sentence.
    It sounds incomplete - or just wrong :)
    He didn't marry her - not because she was frivolous but because she had webbed feet.
     
    Hi, nzseries1

    Do you think the following sounds better?

    3 "He didn't marry her, not because she was frivolous, but because she was annoyed.
     
    An intresing phenomenon, let's try playing with negatives:

    Under certain circumstances, "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous." can mean "He married her not because she was frivolous." (and then both imply that he eventually married her).

    As to "He didn't marry her not because she was frivolous.", he didn't marry her in fact, for a reason open to interpretation (other than her frivolousness).

    I'm not going to consider the first one, as its meaning is very clear.
     
    dn88 said:
    Under certain circumstances, "He didn't marry her because she was frivolous." can mean "He married her not because she was frivolous." (and then both imply that he eventually married her).
    Click to expand...

    Hi, dn88

    As for this sentence, the most common way to express this idea is something like "He didn't marry her for her frivolity" isn't it?
     
    kenny4528 said:
    Hi, dn88

    As for this sentence, the most common way to express this idea is something like "He didn't marry her for her frivolity" isn't it?
    Click to expand...

    I think you are right kenny, I was just trying not to use any other word than "because". :)
     
    river said:
    I believe these sentences need buts.
    Click to expand...

    They do, but I think it was implied in the sentence you quoted that the but would come later (i.e. what was quoted was only part of the whole sentence).

    "He married her, not because she was frivolous..."
    "He married her, not because she was frivolous, but because she was 6 foot 3."
    "He married her, but not because she was frivolous."

    EDIT: Although in saying that, the sentences quoted ended in full stops. So yes you're probably right.
     
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