Grammar Gurus: proof read this phrase.

[Irving]

Okay Grammar Gurus, put yourself to the test. I came across this sentence in a book I'm reading, and I thought this would be a great test sentence. I'll leave in the capitol letter at the beginning and the period at the end, the rest up to you. Now, of course I'm no expert, so I don't know how right this is, but I assume it was proof read by a professional editor. After a few days, I'll edit the first post with the way this phrase reads in the book.

The situation in mesoamerica contrasts strongly that area provided only two domesticable animals the turkey and the dog whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows sheep goats and pigs and corn mesoamericas staple grain was as Ive already explained difficult to domesticate and perhaps slow to develop.

I realize that this is a little difficult without any context, but it is the beginning of the paragraph, so it shouldn't be too difficult to make it grammatically correct regardless of context.

[SA Friday]

Epic failure.

[Irving]

I never should have used that semi-colon in the title.

[sneakerd]

It confuses me. But then- I have had too much to drink.

[Great-Kazoo]

The situation in Mesoamerica contrasts strongly that area provided only two domestic-able animals the turkey and the dog, whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows, sheep, goats, pigs and corn. Mesoamericas staple grain was as I've already explained, difficult to domesticate and perhaps so to develop.

I never was grammatically correct, but try. Do i go home or stay for detention?

[sniper7]

I'll give it a shot. damn serious run on sentence.


The situation in Mesoamerica contrasts strongly that area provided only two domestic-able animals; the turkey and the dog, whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows, sheep, goats, and pigs. Corn, Mesoamerica’s staple grain was, as I've already explained, difficult to domesticate, and perhaps so to develop.

[Byte Stryke]

Context and intent would REALLY help here...

[argonstrom]

Lunch is a PITA

What do I win?

[Dr_Fwd]

English is not my first language, but i'll try:

The situation in mesoamerica contrasts strongly that area provided only two domesticable animals the turkey and the dog whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows sheep goats and pigs and corn mesoamericas staple grain was as Ive already explained difficult to domesticate and perhaps so to develop.

The situation in Mesoamerica contrasts strongly: that area provided only two domesticable animals (the turkey and the dog), whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows, sheep, goats, and pigs, and corn, Mesoamerica's staple grain, was difficult to domesticate and, perhaps, slow to develop.

[Sharpienads]

English is not my first language, but i'll try:




The situation in Mesoamerica contrasts strongly: that area provided only two domesticable animals (the turkey and the dog), whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows, sheep, goats, and pigs, and corn, Mesoamerica's staple grain, was difficult to domesticate and, perhaps, slow to develop.

That's pretty good, but I think the colon should be a semi-colon and take out the commas around the word perhaps.

"The situation in Mesoamerica contrasts strongly; that area provided only two domesticable animals (the turkey and the dog), whose meat yield was far lower than that of cows, sheep, goats, and pigs, and corn, Mesoamerica's staple grain, was difficult to domesticate and perhaps slow to develop."