View Full Version : Who Can Write the Longest Sentence That's Grammatically Correct?
Clough
Mar 29, 2010, 10:35 PM
Hi, All!
Okay, challenge time here! I remember when I was in the 8th grade that my English teacher wrote an incredibly long sentence. It was supposedly all correct, grammatically and punctuation-wise.
Who can come up with the longest sentence here that's also correct in all ways?
Might be a learning experience for some of us!
Wondergirl, are you up for the challenge?
Thanks!
Alty
Mar 29, 2010, 10:37 PM
I'm out. No way can I do it.
I'll just wait for Wondergirl to post and then copy hers. :)
Clough
Mar 29, 2010, 10:39 PM
Well, you can certainly write and write and write, Alty!
Why not give it a try?
I'm hoping that Wondergirl will be the judge here!
Alty
Mar 29, 2010, 10:44 PM
Well, you can certainly write and write and write, Alty!
Why not give it a try?
I'm hoping that Wondergirl will be the judge here!
I do have the gift for gab, but that doesn't extend to writing.
I'll wait for WG, see what she comes up with and then spend a few days trying to beat her. ;)
KISS
Mar 29, 2010, 11:08 PM
Supercalifragilisticxpialidocious!
Alty
Mar 29, 2010, 11:10 PM
Supercalifragilisticxpialidocious!
LOL! That's a word, not a sentence. ;)
Besides, the longest word is;
Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis)
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 12:30 AM
Okay, I want to hear you say that word, Alty! Come on now, out with it! :)
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 04:05 PM
So, I wonder where Wondergirl is at? Guess I'll have to let her know about this thread!
Synnen
Mar 30, 2010, 04:11 PM
Are we allowed to copy from literature? ;)
You can do a LOT with a sentence to make it longer (and still keep it grammatically correct) by using semi-colons and colons instead of periods and question marks.
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 04:15 PM
I sent WG a message about this thread.
Wondergirl
Mar 30, 2010, 04:17 PM
Will there be a prize?
Wondergirl
Mar 30, 2010, 04:46 PM
Uh oh.
Wikipedia says: There is no absolute limit on the length of an English sentence. A sentence describing successive numbers, for example, could be infinitely long, and one concatenating clauses with grammatical conjunctions such as "and" could go on as long as material may be supplied. Thus, at least one linguistics textbook concludes that "there is no longest English sentence".
Thus, no matter how long a sentence is, I can add one more adjective or adverb or interrupter or dependent clause to make it longer.
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 10:02 PM
Are we allowed to copy from literature? ;)
Nope! Just a simple contest to see who can really be creative here! :)
You can do a LOT with a sentence to make it longer (and still keep it grammatically correct) by using semi-colons and colons instead of periods and question marks.
I agree! My response to your first part in bold and in the quote.
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 10:03 PM
Will there be a prize?
Yes! Virtual cookies! :)
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 10:04 PM
Uh oh.
Wikipedia says: There is no absolute limit on the length of an English sentence. A sentence describing successive numbers, for example, could be infinitely long, and one concatenating clauses with grammatical conjunctions such as "and" could go on as long as material may be supplied. Thus, at least one linguistics textbook concludes that "there is no longest English sentence".
Thus, no matter how long a sentence is, I can add one more adjective or adverb or interrupter or dependent clause to make it longer.
But, surely there would be incorrect ways to do it?
Wondergirl
Mar 30, 2010, 10:27 PM
Why incorrect?
This thread is dead. There is no such thing as what you have asked us to write.
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 10:31 PM
Why incorrect?
This thread is dead. There is no such thing as what you have asked us to write.
Gosh! I just thought that it would be kind of fun, like a contest for just this site!
Wondergirl
Mar 30, 2010, 10:33 PM
Gosh! I just thought that it would be kind of fun, like a contest for just this site!
It won't work. Someone can always throw in another adjective or adverb to make the sentence one word longer. It would be an exercise in futility and no fun at all. Think of something else, please.
Clough
Mar 30, 2010, 10:37 PM
It won't work. Someone can always throw in another adjective or adverb to make the sentence one word longer. It would be an exercise in futility and no fun at all. Think of something else, please.
What if we limited it to only a certain subject?
kp2171
Mar 30, 2010, 11:17 PM
It would be an exercise in futility and no fun at all.
I think a girl once dumped me with a line like this.
;)
Clough
Mar 31, 2010, 12:11 AM
Well, at least this thread was worth a try...
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 08:29 AM
What if we limited it to only a certain subject?
What good would that do??
Synnen
Mar 31, 2010, 08:31 AM
I think the only way this could get REALLY interesting is if someone starts a sentence, and each person is allowed to add only one word to lengthen the sentence.
We'd have to set up turns, though, or we'd have 6 people responding, and 6 new sentences to play with, rather than one expanding sentence.
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 08:40 AM
I think the only way this could get REALLY interesting is if someone starts a sentence, and each person is allowed to add only one word to lengthen the sentence.
We'd have to set up turns, though, or we'd have 6 people responding, and 6 new sentences to play with, rather than one expanding sentence.
That's what we do on a wordplay site I belong to. I might start with "once" and someone else would add "I" or "there" or "upon." A third person adds another appropriate word to continue the story.
Another one is I say a sentence and someone has to start a new sentence using the last word of my sentence.
Still another one is I say "A" and someone has to say a word or real person's first or last name that starts with that letter. Then he says "B" and the next person has to add a word or real name that starts with that letter -- go through the alphabet multiple times that way.
Start the party, Synn!
Synnen
Mar 31, 2010, 08:47 AM
Oh lord... I'm terrible at starting things!
Alty
Mar 31, 2010, 04:32 PM
oh lord....I'm terrible at starting things!
You start things all the time. ;)
Synnen
Mar 31, 2010, 04:37 PM
Not PRODUCTIVE things!
Clough
Mar 31, 2010, 04:58 PM
Here's a start, then and here's the beginning to the sentence.
A day in the life of Homer was when he...
The subject is limited to, being a man in one way or another.
Limit of words is one to three, please.
Thanks!
Carl17
Mar 31, 2010, 05:18 PM
An incredibly long sentence is quite easy to write, a grammatically correct incredibly long sentence however is challenging to even the most astute of linguists, but I believe that if I try I can make a long sensical sentence that is incredibly long, and I also believe that this sentence shall be it, so I will now delve into the depths of my brain for content; I was born on March 12 of the year 1993, I am 17 years of age, and I have led bore a great burden on my shoulders that I think we can all relate to; life, the first thing that I can recall is an image of my father, my father is a tall lanky man, I remember him in this moment in time having a beard, and long hair all the way down to his tailbone, the second thing that I can recall is playing on the stone steps in the back of my childhood home with a red firetruck, this firetruck had an extendable ladder, I tripped somehow and ripped my nose open on said ladder, my father, being the jack of all trades that he is somehow fixed me up, and I am suprisinly not horribly disfigured, the third thing that I can remember is going to a safe house with my mother, my father was a good man, but as with all relationships my mother and father had there problems, I remember that at this safe house in Battle Creek, Michigan I ate Rice Crispies treats, with a wonderful woman that would care for me while my mother was out, and playing with the other children residing at the safe house, the fourth thing that I remember is visiting the W.K. Kellogg Cereal Company's Factory while I was there in battle creek, I got to see how the cereal was made, and I remember that there was a bucket there with little brown leather keychains in the shape of a basketball, I took one and shoved it in my pocket with glee, as not many things in life are free, and when you stumble upon one, you should snatch it up, The fifth memory that I can recall is being accused by a woman at the safe house of trying to stab her, I don't know if this woman was mentally unstable, or just derranged, but I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the delight of any 9 year old, and in my naivity, I used a steak knife to do the deed, I swung my arm down with a smile, not knowning the woman was standing behind me with her arms crossed glaring at me, for I had used to wrong peanut butter, It was hers, and not my mothers, you see everyone there shared a refrigerator, and I, In my naivity, used hers instead of my mothers, I was tried in court and proved not guilty, she was never actually hurt, it was all just a big misunderstanding. The next thing that I can recall is moving to Charlotte, Michigan with my mother, we lived in a blue house by the railroad tracks, I had a lot of fun there in charlotte, I think that I was 12 at this moment in time, here in charlotte I had my first gay expeirience with another boy, and I am now happily bisexual, I also remember burning the hell out of my hand, I filled up a metal can with some kind of flammable propellant and lit it on fire with a lighter, the opening at the top of the can was smaller than the chamber, and the flame shot out at me, this was not as fun as the last expeirience, but that's all right, for life has ups and downs, I also had my first fourth of July that I can recall here in Charlotte, there were many whimsical multi-colored fireworks to behold, and I was fascinated by them, as any budding man is, I also remember my father coming to see me on my 13th birthday, we visited each other at McDonalds because my mother could not be around my father, he bought me a Bicycle and a telescop for my birthday, learning new things amazes me, that is why he bought me that telescope, I love my father with all of my heart, and I missed him dearly, the next memory that I can recall is a dark and brooding one, I remember it very clearly, but for the sake of your reading pleasure, I will not go into much detail, my mother stabbed me in my right forearm, to this day I cannot recall why, I can only recall that she was sent to a mental institution and I was reunited with my father, my father at this time was still drinking heavily, but he went to AA (Alchoholics Anonymous, If anyone has a drinking problem and needs help, I can point you in the right direction, if you need someone to talk to and just let things out, I can also serve this purpose), and he was sober for 5 years, my father and I after living in Nashville, Michigan (My childhood Home) for a year or two moved to Plainwell Township, Michigan Career Technical Institute, so that my father could go back to school, I had a lot of fun here in plainwell, but this is where I started to slip up, I started missing school more and more, I began to think that the children at school hated me, the teacher, I despised school, I became depressed, and developed an inferiority complex, I then went to court for truancy (Missing School), and was put on probation, My probation officer was Greg Kotrba, he was an exceptional character, someone that I could look up to, he was very nice to me, he went beyond what he had to do to help me, I went to court mandated counselling services with Michigan Mental Health, and they helped me to overcome my depression and inferiority complex, there isn't much space between this event (About a year) and now, so I will tell you about myself in the here and now, because the past is past and we live in the current, I attend Kellogg Adult Education Center, I didn't fit in at the high school, I couldn't even hold a conversation with most of the idiots there, so I transferred somewhere more low key, and relaxed, where I could be myself, I smoke cigarettes, and marijuana on occasion to expan my horizons, interestinly enough there is a theory on Marijuana that I have devised; marijuana does not effect short term memory in the way that most people think, the cannabanoids in Marijuana block the primary pathway that information travels through and so the brain must find a new way to interpret the sensory information, so it travels through different pathways, this is why people think differently when under the influence of marijuana, if you haven't had the pleasure of smoking marijuana, It is my opinion that you should try it when it is decriminalized within the next 5 years, or perhaps sooner, if you are brave enough, I have a lot of friends now and I love to hang out with them, and this is my life, as well as an incredibly long sentence.
Carl17
Mar 31, 2010, 05:20 PM
I started writing that before you changed the rules, for your information.
Clough
Mar 31, 2010, 05:26 PM
I started writing that before you changed the rules, for your information.
Okay, I can always change the original question...
There also seems to be a need for some periods in what you wrote, if you don't mind my intimating that.
Thanks!
Carl17
Mar 31, 2010, 05:38 PM
I did have the urge to add periods, but I don't think that there is a gramatical rule for adding a period being required, except at the end of a sentence.
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 06:16 PM
Carl, your "sentence" contains a lot of comma splices (run-on sentences that demand periods at the end of each). Your effort stopped with the first nine words that are a complete sentence: "An incredibly long sentence is quite easy to write."
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 06:19 PM
I did have the urge to add periods, but I don't think that there is a gramatical rule for adding a period being required, except at the end of a sentence.
Yes, Carl, there is a grammatical rule to add a period at the end of a sentence. As soon as you have a subject and a verb, you have a sentence.
Carl17
Mar 31, 2010, 06:20 PM
English never was my best subject, but hey, at least I tried.
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 06:26 PM
English never was my best subject, but hey, atleast I tried.
I think it's an amazing story, but it should be in a different kind of contest.
Carl17
Mar 31, 2010, 06:32 PM
Indeed it should be. It was fun to write, and I would imagine fun to read, so I hope that you all enjoy it, even though I received no virtual cookies because I fail. :P
Wondergirl
Mar 31, 2010, 06:47 PM
Indeed it should be. It was fun to write, and I would imagine fun to read, so I hope that you all enjoy it, even though I recieved no virtual cookies because I fail. :P
I feel the need to proofread and correct it.
You want a greenie?
Clough
Mar 31, 2010, 09:02 PM
I think that he needs a greenie after getting the unjustified reddie!
kp2171
Mar 31, 2010, 09:17 PM
Was that reddie really warranted? Really??
Clough
Mar 31, 2010, 09:29 PM
was that reddie really warranted? really???
No, I don't think that it was. Really not the way to treat a newbie here!
I usually give newbies greenies even if I dissagree with them.