This reminds me of the double "is" construction (ISIS) that​ has become so prevalent, from the President down... On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 11:58 AM, Hancock, Craig G <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > If you do a search on COCA, you come up with 8544 entries, many of them > sentence opening. When we have this kind of frequency of use, it's fair to > say that it's a construction and may have developed meanings and functions > AS A UNIT that are separate from its component syntax. If I write "the > problem is Charlie," then the sentence is straightforward. But if I write > "The problem is, Charlie is stupid," then "the problem is" can be seen as a > thematic opening to a statement about Charlie. (Similar to Dick's "to my > chagrin," or even "unfortunately.") > I haven't the time to do a full analysis, but there does seem to be a > pattern. When "that" is included, no comma. When "that" is left out, the > comma is routine. > Here's an example from Cosmopolitan (the first on the list): "The > problem is, if we look at the summer and the trajectory is up, he..." > This one is from the New York Times: "The problem is, it isn't easy > politically to make a 180 degree turn." > Another from fiction: "The problem is, the murderers have snatched one > of our people." > The structure ("the problem is" plus comma as sentence opener) seems > common in respectable places. > > Craig > > ----Original Message----- > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto: > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Karl Hagen > Sent: Wednesday, January 28, 2015 10:51 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: The problem is(,) > > I vote for the comma. My reasoning is, the example uses a bare content > clause (i.e., 'that' is omitted) in a circumstance where omitting the > subordinator potentially creates confusion. Notice what I did in the > previous sentence? I think the comma is even more necessary there, as it's > much easier to read "the example" as the complement without the comma. In > other words, if I omit the comma there, I risk creating a garden-path > sentence. > > Using the comma to avoid this misreading is parallel to using one in > elliptical constructions: > > Alice favors construction grammar; Bob, transformational. > > What we really have are two comma rules that conflict, and we need to > decide which one dominates (if I can borrow the terminology of Optimality > Theory). If we say that the normal no-comma rule takes precedence over the > use-commas-for-elliptical-constructions rule, then we're basically saying > you cannot omit "that" in this context, which is clearly descriptively > wrong. (By the way, does anyone know of an Optimality Theory study of > English punctuation rules?) > > > > On Jan 28, 2015, at 7:19 AM, Dick Veit <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > My adult ESOL students love the "Dear Abby" advice column, and I came > upon this sentence in today's column: > > > > The problem is, I'm not attracted to him. > > > > Should the comma be there? > > > > Like me, I'm guessing your first response is no, since a comma between a > verb and its complement (or object) is nonstandard. > > > > On further thought, I'm not so sure. > > > > There are two ways of reading those words. One is with unstressed "is" > and no pause between "is" and "I'm." If the comma is omitted, a reader is > likely to assume this reading. > > > > The sentence can also be read, however, with stress on "is" and a pause > before "I'm." The case for the comma is: > > > > (1) A writer can't invoke this reading without the comma, and > > (2) This reading is equivalent to "To my chagrin, I'm not attracted to > him"--i.e., "The problem is" could be considered adverbial, making the > comma appropriate. > > > > What do you think? > > > > Dick Veit, > > emeritus linguistics prof and volunteer ESOL teacher To join or leave > > this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave > the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > -- John Chorazy English III Honors, AP Lit Advisor, *Panther Press* Pequannock Township High School 973.616.6000 Noli Timere To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/