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9/2/2012

9-9-03 1

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Court Reporting:Court Reporting:Bad Grammar/Bad Grammar/

Good PunctuationGood Punctuation©©


margieholdscourt.comall rights reserved 33

9/2/2012

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The Comma That SeparatesThe Comma That Separates

44


We reviewed his file,, ma’am..

I know she started May 4,, 2011..

He works in Hammond,, Indiana..

55


Well,, she was not really a part of it..

When did it end,, to your knowledge??

By the way,, he couldn’t solve the

problem that we were having..

66

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The Comma That Sets OffThe Comma That Sets Off

77


We reviewed his file,, ma’am,, before

we hired him to work for us..

I know she started May 4,, 2011,, but

stayed just six months..

He works in Hammond,, Indiana,, at

the courthouse there..

88


She was,, well,, not really a part of it..

When,, to your knowledge,, did it end??

He couldn’t,, by the way,, solve the

problem that we were having..

99

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[email protected]@margieholdscourt.com



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AA We worked until well after

midnight that night.. There was a rush

order that we had to get out..

The next morning I was

awakened by a call from........

1313


AA I was walking with my daughter..

We were talking,, and I was not really

paying attention to what was going on

around me.. We were discussing her

college applications..

All of a sudden,, there was a loud

bang.. When I looked up........

1414


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AA She said,, ““How am I to do it?”?”

I said,, ““Figure it out.. This is

what we pay you for.”.”

She said, “, “This is beyond what I

was hired to do.”.”

1616


QQ What was the conversation??

AA He said, “, “Get out.”.”

She said, “, “I think not.”.”

He said, “, “You have to.. This is

not working out.”.”

She said, “, “I am staying.”.”

1717


QQ What was the conversation??

AA He said, “, “Get out.”.”

She said, “, “I think not.”.”

““You have to.. This is not

working out.”.”

““I am staying.”.”

1818

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THE COURT:THE COURT: Overruled..

Please do not answer..

Reframe your question,, Counsel..

2020


AA I believe it was on the 15th that

the ----

Would you read that question

back to me,, please..

2121

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Put a period after a grammatically

complete sentence that makes a

statement or issues a command.

RuleRule

2323


Her plan does not include health

benefits.. I could not use it..

I had very little to do with what

happened later.. That’s it..

He expected me to finish it.. I didn’t..

What did you say?? I am sorry..

2424

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Leave now.. You may still make it for

the last train..

Hand me the piece of paper from

there on the table.. It is Exhibit 1..

Send it via email.. I will check for it..

Have it delivered.. Thank you..

2525



DefinitionDefinition

A run-on is the combination of two

sentences that do not have a

conjunction between them but

that are punctuated with a comma

or with nothing at all.

2727

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Ray got into the work early in the

day,, Joe did not..

Ray got into the work early in the

day.. Joe did not..

2828


I did not hear what you said,, I’m

sorry..

I did not hear what you said.. I’m

sorry..

2929


We left with the understanding it

would be handled,, that’s it..

We left with the understanding it

would be handled.. That’s it..

3030

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We do not need it at this point

thank you..

We do not need it at this point..

Thank you..

3131



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A polite request is a sentence that

asks for action or information.

3434


A polite request can never be

answered with a simple yes or no.

These are simply not responsive to

the request.

DiscussionDiscussion

3535


A polite request correctly begins

with will or would.


3636

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QQ Would you state your name for

the record,, please..

AA No.. I cannot do that..

3737


QQ Will you state your name for the

record,, please..

AA Okay..

3838


QQ Would you please hand me the

file that is marked ““Debits.”.”

AA No.. I cannot do that..

3939

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QQ Would you please hand me the

file that is marked ““Debits.”.”

AA Okay..

4040


Put a period after a polite

request.

RuleRule

4141


QQ Will you explain how it

happened that you were there..

AA She had arrived early and had

called me to come over..

4242

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QQ Would you turn to page 5 of this

exhibit and look at the second

paragraph..

AA Sure..

4343


CanCan andand CouldCould

Used IncorrectlyUsed Incorrectly

4444


QQ Can you hand the document

you are holding to your counsel..

QQ Can you put your initials in the

top corner of the page..

4545

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The Gray Area…The Gray Area…

4646


QQ Can you give me the names..

AA Jim,, Robert,, and Martin..

QQ Can you give me the names??

AA I don’t have a clue who those

people were..

4747


QQ May we have this marked for

identification..

QQ May we have this marked for

identification??

4848

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A indirect question always occurs

in a dependent clause and does not

use question word order.

5050


An indirect question has the “feel”

of a question but simply doesn’t

have the “form” of a true question.


5151

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Direct Question

What time did you leave??

Indirect Question

I am asking what time you left..

5252


Direct Question

When did the surgery take place??

Indirect Question

I am wondering when the surgery

took place..

5353


Direct Question

How far was it to his office??

Indirect Question

I want to know how far it was to

his office..

5454

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A fragment is an element that does

not stand alone as a complete

grammatical thought.

5656


……because she is not here……

……on the corner……

……that he was there alone……

……near the base of the skull……

……very late yesterday afternoon……

5757

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Put a period after a fragment that

stands for a complete thought.

RuleRule

5858


Punctuate a fragment the same way

that you would punctuate the

grammatically complete sentence

that it stands for.


5959


Not with him in that car.. I was alone..

Eight.. There were only eight..

In the back.. That’s absolutely true..

I intended to give that to you this

morning.. Sorry..

6060

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QQ What day did this happen??

AA Friday.. I think it was the 5th..

QQ Where did you see her??

AA At the beach.. She was alone..

6262


QQ Were you involved at all??

AA Minimally.. I did little on that..

QQ When did you enter into that??

AA The 16th.. Maybe it was the 17th..

6363

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QQ How far did you travel that day??

AA Only a couple of hundred miles..

I was really tired..

QQ Where did you stop??

AA At a little motel.. We were out in

the middle of nowhere..

6464


The Issue ofThe Issue of

YesYes andand NoNo

6565


When what follows yes and no

echoes the words of the question,

use a comma.

RuleRule

6666

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QQ Did she call you that night??

AA Yes,, she did..

AA Yes,, she called..

6767


QQ Was he agitated??

AA No,, he was not agitated..

AA No,, he wasn’t..

6868


When what follows yes and no

does not echo the words of the

question, use a period.

RuleRule

6969

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QQ Did she call you that night??

AA Yes.. She asked about the loan..

AA Yes.. She talked to my mom..

7070


QQ Was he agitated??

AA No.. He was amazingly calm..

AA No.. He was in control..

7171


ButBut andand BecauseBecause

Make NO DifferenceMake NO Difference

7272

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QQ Was she in attendance??

AA No.. But she sent a colleague..

AA Yes.. Because she was in charge..

7373


Is this a time when a semicolon

might work?

NO.


7474


The CombinationThe Combination

7575

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QQ Did she react well to the news??

AA Yes,, she did.. She embraced her

new position..

AA No,, she didn’t.. She broke down

right away..

7676


YesYes oror NoNo at the Endat the End

7777


QQ Did you see her after she quit??

AA We met several times,, yes..

AA I did not see her at all,, no..

7878

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YesYes oror NoNo in the Middlein the Middle

7979


QQ Was he visibly upset??

AA He reacted rather violently,,

yes,, and seemed to be over the edge..

AA I couldn’t tell,, no,, that he was

upset in any way..

8080


QQ Did you send the form in??

AA I did not have it initially;; but,,

yes,, I did send it eventually..

AA She did not give it to me;;

and,, no,, I had no way to send it in

otherwise..

8181

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UhUh--huhhuh andand UnhUnh--UnhUnh

and Their Friendsand Their Friends

8282


The rules for uh-huh and unh-unh

and yep and nope are exactly the

same as for yes and no.

RuleRule

8383


Yep,, I did accompany her..

She was in surgery by the time I gotthere,, uh-huh..

I made every effort;; but,, unh-unh,, we

weren’t able to make that contact..

8484

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Repeating the AnswerRepeating the Answer

8686


QQ How near to you was it??

AA It was no more than ten feet..

QQ It was no more than ten feet..

Did you have a clear view??

8787

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QQ Who told you that??

AA It was Joe Ross..

QQ Joe Ross told you that..

Did you trust him??

8888


QQ What did she indicate??

AA She indicated it would be no

later than the 24th..

QQ The 24th..

Was that a guaranteed date??

8989


QQ When did you pay the final??

AA I think it was in May..

QQ In May..

In your mind,, was that it??

9090

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The Big Five:The Big Five:

OkayOkay.. All RightAll Right.. Very WellVery Well..

FineFine.. Great.Great.

9191


What does the attorney mean when

he uses one of these words?

Q Okay. Did you go to…?

And should we paragraph after the

big five?


9292


QQ Was surgery inevitable??

AA It was a definite..

QQ Okay.. When did you tell him??

9393

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QQ Were you alone in this??

AA I felt alone..

QQ All right.. Fine.. Did you reach…?…?

9494


QQ I asked you about that Tuesday..

AA It was finalized on that Tuesday..

QQ Great.. Okay.. Fine.. Were you...?...?

9595


The CombinationThe Combination

9696

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QQ Who led in sales??

AA Mark Johnson.. He was always

first..

QQ Mark Johnson.. Okay.. Great..

Did he work from your branch??

9797


The ObjectionThe Objection

9898


Objection.. Asked and answered;;

compound,, unintelligible..

Objection ---- asked and answered,,

compound,, unintelligible..

Objection:: Asked and answered;;

compound;; unintelligible..

9999

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Objection.. Asked and answered;;

Compound.. Unintelligible..

100100


THE APP

If you don’t have a QR reader,

download “QR Scanner” by Grip’d for the

iPhone;

go to www.qrdroid.com for the Adroid.

101101


If you want a text message to come

to your phone for new blog posts,

opt in by texting

txtrs MargieWW TO 368638.

102102

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QQ How many?? Do you know??

QQ Who helped you?? Your brother??

QQ How long was it?? More than a

month??

QQ What did you tell her?? The truth

or the lie you had been spreading??

104104


The Attorney:The Attorney:

ClarifyingClarifying

105105

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QQ Whom did you see?? I am talking

about when you first got there..

QQ How long was the surgery?? I am

referring to the surgery on the 4th..

QQ How much more did you spend??

On your sister,, I mean?(.)?(.)

106106



DoubleDouble--CheckingChecking

107107


QQ Whom did you see?? Do you

recall??

QQ How long was the surgery?? Do

you have an estimate??


Do you know??

108108

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Two QuestionsTwo Questions

109109


QQ Whom did you see?? Where were

they??

QQ How long was the surgery?? Did

you do the follow-up??


Did you buy everything for her??

110110



Leading the WitnessLeading the Witness

111111

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QQ Whom did you see?? Your

brother??

QQ How long was the surgery??

Several hours??


More than $100??

112112


The JudgeThe Judge

113113


THE COURT:THE COURT: Sustained..

Next question,, Counsel..

THE COURT:THE COURT: Morning recess..

Back in 15 minutes..

114114

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QQ Did you eat strawberries??

QQ Did you eat blueberries??

QQ Did you eat kiwi??

QQ Did you eat papaya??

116116



blueberries??

kiwi??

papaya??

117117

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blueberries?? kiwi?? papaya??


Blueberries?? Kiwi?? Papaya??

118118


QQ Was the car you saw red?? blue??

gray?? brown??

QQ What color was the car you saw??

Red?? Blue?? Gray?? Brown??

119119


QQ Did you call 9-1-1?? your doctor??

the hospital??

QQ Which one did you consider

purchasing?? The large one?? The small

one?? One of the others??

120120

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QQ Who did that work for you??

Your admin assistant?? Your clerk??

Your bookkeeper??

QQ How did you find out?? Who told

you?? The doctor??

121121


The Case forThe Case for RightRight

and Its Friendsand Its Friends

TrueTrue andand CorrectCorrect

122122


When the content of two

sentences is very closely related,

use a semicolon between the two

sentences.

RuleRule

123123

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She worked alone;; he worked with

the others..

My brother lives in Seattle;; my sister

lives in Florida..

124124



A tag clause is added to a sentence

that is a statement in order to turn

it into a question.

125125


The only reason to use right, true, or

correct is to turn a sentence

expressed as a statement into a

question.


126126

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There are two kinds of tag clauses:

those that echo the original

statement

those that use right, true, and

correct


127127


When the tag clause echoes the

statement, use commas.

RuleRule

128128


He was with the company ten years,,

wasn’t he??

Her leg was not broken,, was it??

They had signed the papers for the

loan,, had they not??

I am correct,, am I not??

129129

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He was with the company ten years,,

wasn’t he,, when you discovered the

second set of books??

Her leg was not broken,, was it,, at the

time you examined her??

130130


When the tag clause has its own

subject and verb and comes at

the end of the sentence, use a

semicolon in front of it.

RuleRule

131131


He was with the company ten years;;

is that correct??

Her leg was not broken;; is that right??


loan;; isn’t that true??

132132

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You testified last Friday in your

deposition that the man you saw was

wearing a brown winter coat that

seemed to be oversized and that he

had his hands in the pockets and

that there was a bulge in the right-

side pocket.. Is that correct??

133133


When the tag clause has its own

subject and verb and comes in the

middle of the sentence, use a pair

of dashes around it.

RuleRule

134134


He was with the company ten years ----is that correct?? ---- when youdiscovered the second set of books??

Her leg was not broken ---- is thatright?? ---- when you examined her??

135135

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Punctuate a fragment the same

way that you would punctuate

the grammatically complete

sentence that it stands for.

RuleRule

136136


He was with the company ten years;;

correct??

Her leg was not broken;; right??


loan;; true??

137137


He was with the company,, right,, ten

years,, right,, when you discovered,,

right,, the second set of books??

138138

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A Word AboutA Word About OkayOkay

139139


Put a period in front of okay when

it comes at the end of a sentence.

Use an interrog or period after it,

depending upon the intonation

used.

RuleRule

140140


You say you insisted the doctor run

additional tests.. Okay..

I am going to show you several

exhibits that were all marked at the

same time yesterday.. Okay??

141141

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Surround okay with dashes in the

middle of the sentence if it is

asking a “legitimate” question.

Otherwise, treat it as a

throwaway.

RuleRule

142142


You can speak with your attorney ----

is that okay?? ---- before we go on..

She was standing,, okay,, next to me

and was,, okay,, acting weird,, okay,,

and proceeded to start screaming..

143143


Put a period in front of the other

comments that come at the end

of the sentence. Let them stand

as their own question.

RuleRule

144144

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She regularly exceeded 40 hours a

week.. Is that fair??

You lived just a block from the

beach.. Is that what you are saying??

There were nine children.. Is that

what I am to understand??

145145




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THE GENERAL RULE:

put a number that is ten or under

into words and a number that is

eleven and over into figures.

RuleRule

148148


……more than these four are needed……

……more than these 14 are needed……

……sent five just yesterday……

……sent 32 just yesterday……

149149


THE CONSISTENCY RULE:

Express numbers that are in the

same area of the transcript and

measure the same or similar

things in a like manner.

RuleRule

150150

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……have 12 and need six more……

……have 12 and need 6 more……

……showed three but need 13……

……showed 3 but need 13……

151151



In the ThousandsIn the Thousands

153153

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……1400 more today……

……1,400 more today……

……37 thousand increase……

……37,000 increase……

154154


Beginning with 1,000,000Beginning with 1,000,000

155155


……over 7,000,000……

……over 7 million……

……over a million……

……over 1 million……

……sending 975,000 today and well over3,000,000 this week……

156156

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……a 7,000,000-a-day rate……

……a 7 million-a-day rate……

……sending 975,000 today and well over3,000,000 this week……

157157


PercentagesPercentages

158158


……over 6 percent……

……over 35 percent……

……a 7 percent increase……

……the 3 percent raise……

159159

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FractionsFractions

160160


……up by a third……

……up by one third……

……two thirds of the group……

……increased by three fourths……

……a one-third decrease in sales……

……three-fifths rate……

161161


……9 and 2/3rds……

……9 2/3……

……7 3/4 of the total……

……up by 5 3/8……

……8 3/4 decrease in size……

……9 7/8 rate……

162162

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……went up by one third and 7 2/3……

……went up by 1/3 and 7 2/3……

……a margin of two thirds for him andwell over 4 3/4 for her……

……a margin of 2/3 for him and wellover 4 3/4 for her……

163163


……sent only a half……

……sent only one half……

……two and a half or more……

……2 1/2 or more……

164164


A DilemmaA Dilemma

165165

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In our era of “searchable”

documents, we might have to

rethink how we transcribe numbers.

Only we are focusing in on the “way”

something is said.


166166


He said

“…“…at five o’clock…”…”

what do you transcribe??

167167


……at five o’clock……

……at 5 o’clock……

……at 5:00……

……at 5:00 o’clock……

168168

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He said

“…“…in 2-O-8…”…”


169169


……in 2-08……

……in 2’08……

……in 2008……

170170


He said

“…“…earned four or five thousanddollars on that job…”…”


171171

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……four or five thousand dollars……

……four or 5,000 dollars……

……four(-) or $5,000……

……4 or $5,000……

……4- or $5,000……

172172



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