# Is there anything gramatically wrong with this sentence?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 22, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381 "2008-12-22T23:06:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [January 7, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381/41 "2009-01-07T20:03:08Z")

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> [@Jesse\_Leigh](#):
>
> It’s _never_ all right to put a comma before an ‘and’ as it’s shown in the OP.

It is if there is a second comma delineating the end of the phrase which could be omitted.

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**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381/42 "2009-01-08T01:56:01Z")

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How about ditching the “and” entirely? **“Not only was I one of the youngest participants in the seminar, I was also one of only three Americans invited to participate.”** It’s a bit less tedious, though I’d recommend finding another way to say either participate (attend?) or participants as well rather than use different forms of the same rootword twice in one sentence.

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**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381/43 "2009-01-08T06:36:12Z")

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Hell, since we’ve suggested just about every other variation, let’s go ahead and add “bulleted list” format for the sake of completeness 🙂

> [@](#):
>
> My participation in the seminar was notable for two reasons:  
> [ul]  
> [li]I was one of the youngest participants.[/li][li]I was one of only three Americans invited to participate.[/li][/ul]

ETA: For the sake of doing due diligence for the prose, anybody reviewing the sentence structure really should take a look at it in the context where it’s being used. After all, “structurally correct” doesn’t necessarily equal “good”.

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**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381/44 "2009-01-08T06:55:10Z")

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Besides, Americans don’t speak the Queen’s English anyway, so the entire question is moot. 😉

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**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\
**Post date:** [January 8, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-gramatically-wrong-with-this-sentence/478381/45 "2009-01-08T14:59:20Z")

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That’s “mute”, if common usage is any indication.

😉

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