<p>Why is this wrong:
But all kayakers can appreciate the nuances
of nature as they travel on water in this simple, but
versatile boat.</p>
<p>I've seen sentences like this before that are correct:
The girls won the game, not the battle.</p>
<p>What is the difference between these two sentences?</p>
<p>“But versatile” is an interjection that interrupts the normal flow of the sentance, and it needs a comma to close it. If you were saying it, you would not say “small [pause] but versatile boat,” you would say “small [pause] but versatile [pause] boat.”</p>
<p>The actual answer to the former has no comma, however.</p>
<p>But all kayakers can appreciate the nuances of nature as they travel on water in this simple, yet versatile boat.</p>
<p>As stated above, ‘but’ is an interjection that does not necessarily fit into the sentence because it disrupts the flow of the sentence and creates too much of a pause.
The main concern here is the ‘but’, but honestly I’m not sure if you would put a comma before it or not.</p>
<p>The ACT says no comma before but on that question.</p>
<p>So you mean the correct answer is without the comma.It’s because the phrase after “but” does not contain a subject so you can’t have a comma.
If you use a comma, it has to contain a subject. For example:
Mike wants chocolate ice cream, but his sister wants vanilla ice cream. Note that his sister is the subject.</p>
<p>If I change the subject of the sentence, do you see the problem?</p>
<p>I often appreciate the nuances of nature as they travel on water in this simple, but versatile boat.</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with the poor stylistic comma-placement choice. It’s antecedent ambiguity.</p>
<p>:| this is the reason why I despise English. As easy as it may seem, every simple rule has a naturally complicated side to it.</p>