ENGL1010 Composition IThere are two basic rules that English follows: changing the placement of words or punctuation changes the meaning (or can even destroy the meaning), and meaning centers on the subject and verbs.
Placement of words or punctuation
Sometimes meaning is dependent on where a word appears in a sentence:
However at the beginning of the following sentence suggests a contrast to a preceeding sentence, which must have suggested behavior by him that would normally be seen as inconsistent with love.
However, he loves her.
Moving the word however in the following sentence, changes the emphasis placed on the other words, and so changes the meaning. Placing however after he, while it could suggest the same as the first sentence, could also suggest that he loves her in contrast to some other person previously mentioned.
He, however, loves her.
Meaning can also be changed through the use of punctuation:
The sentence "My brother, who lives in Texas, is crazy" suggests by the commas that the writer has one brother (the words "who lives in Texas" are not necessary to explain the meaning of "My brother is crazy").
The sentence "My brother who lives in Texas is crazy" does not have commas, indicating that the writer has more than one brother (the words "who lives in Texas" are necessary to distinguish which brother is crazy--the one who lives in Texas is crazy while the one who lives in Ohio is not).
ENGL1010 Composition I