Posted by Elizabeth on January 26, 2008 at 21:53:12 from 24.22.115.46 user Elizabeth.
In Reply to: Grammar posted by John on January 26, 2008 at 21:15:26:
John, I think you chose well for the placement in your entire sentence. If you had decided to use the option to separate the two modifying adjectives by a comma, your sentence would have read:
"In the end, consistent, negative feedback works well."
I believe the two commas in a row make the sentence harder to read and understand. My test of this is to read the sentence aloud. We all learn to pause a bit when we see a comma. If one reads your sentence with a pause for each comma, there is too much emphasis on the word "consistent"; too little on "negative". The way you have written the sentence, there is equal emphasis on each modifier. That extra comma slightly changes the meaning of your sentence. Using a comma between two words which modify the same noun or verb is also an older-fashioned style, at least here in the US.
And the AR connection? His sentences are often long and complex, but he always used good grammatical structure to clarify his meaning.