comma with 'at least in part': This would, at least in part, explain

S

Sextus

Senior Member
Spanish
"This would, at least in part, explain why, although S. usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, he occasionally does it in a less careful manner which may certainly mislead us."

Should I take out the commas in ", at least in part,"?

Thanks,

Sextus
 
    • I'd leave the commas in. Just one correction

    Sextus said:
    "This would, at least in part, explain why, although S. usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, he occasionally does so in a less careful manner which may certainly mislead us."
    Click to expand...

    "clearly skeptical way" also sounds a little clumsy. But I'm at a loss to know how to re-phrase without re-phrasing the whole sentence. Perhaps get rid of the "clearly", because one dosn't usually hear it as an adverb qualifying skeptical. Perhaps try "unmistakably skeptical".
     
    How about
    This could partly explain the fact that although S usually expresses himself in a distinctly Skeptical way, he occasionally does so in a less careful manner, which may certainly mislead us.
     
    It is comma heavy, and convoluted, as originally posted. Try rearranging to simplify 'digestion'... I would need more of the context in order to make a serious suggestion. In short, you would need to extract the meat of your example and place it in a separate sentence:

    "Although S. usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, he occasionally does it in a less careful manner which may certainly mislead us." ....etc.
     
    I would keep the commas around 'at least in part' and get rid of those around the 'although' clause. You don't need commas to mark a pause between 'why' and 'although' because they couldn't naturally follow each other in the same clause anyway: we'd pause and start a new clause anyway. It's with the 'at least in part' that we need some guidance. IMHO.
     
    Just the one after "part".

    Sextus said:
    "This would, at least in part, explain why, although S. usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, he occasionally does it in a less careful manner which may certainly mislead us."

    Should I take out the commas in ", at least in part,"?

    Thanks,

    Sextus
    Click to expand...
     
    What about:

    "This would explain, at least in part, why S., usually expressing himself in a Skeptical way, occasionally does so in a less careful, and hence misleading manner." ?

    Sextus
     
    Sextus said:
    "This would, at least in part, explain why, although S. usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, he occasionally does it in a less careful manner which may certainly mislead us."

    Should I take out the commas in ", at least in part,"? Sextus
    Click to expand...

    This would partially explain why Sextus usually expresses himself in a clearly Skeptical way, occasionally doing so in a less than careful and hence misleading manner.
     
    I think I could just say this:

    "This would explain, at least in part, why S. occasionally expresses himself in a more careless, and hence misleading, manner."

    What do you think?

    Sextus
     
    Because it is very hard to understand the sentence.

    He usually expresses himself in a skeptical manner but on occasions he expresses himself in a careful manner.

    The first problem is the word “less” which is used to compare (careful) with (skeptical). What does it mean to be less careful than skeptical?

    The second problem is that it is not clear why we are misled. Are we misled because he is expensing himself in a less careful manner or because he is clearly skeptical?

    Perhaps I’ve read this sentence too many times. I still don’t know what it says.
     
    I agree with mhp... but partially because we have no context for the quote.

    In essence, I can't help but think it could be clearer by re-ordering the words and bringing the points closer to the surface:

    When S. expresses himself in such an apparently careless, misleading manner, it is for just this purpose: ...
     
    i think a little sentence re-arrangement would solve your problem. it's a bit waffly and confusing.

    This would partially explain why Dr S sometimes expresses himself in a less careful, misleading manner contrary to his normal skeptical way.

    perhaps something along those lines?
     
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