Which of the following sentences is more used by English native speakers verbally and in writing?
- Do you know where Susan works?
- Do you know, Where does Susan work?
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1 Answer
Number 1 is most used in verbal and writing.
Number 2 is not really a good/correct sentence. I could see a sentence like that being said in verbal communication, but not written. For example, someone could say Do you know then pause for a while like they are thinking about something, and then say Where does Susan work?. But it would still be more appropriate to say where Susan works.
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3#2 is colloquial rather than incorrect―at least if we're ignoring the error in capitalization. You're right that people rarely write sentences like #2, and you're also right that there would generally be a pause where the OP has written a comma.– user230Commented Oct 15, 2014 at 16:57
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1@snailboat Very interesting to know. I'd love to see a similar sentence in a movie or TV series! Do you know one by any chance?!– learnerCommented Oct 15, 2014 at 18:08
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2You wouldn't "see" that sentence in a movie or TV series, because that sentence is quite grammatically incorrect, and an editor might lose their job over it. You might hear something similar to it, but it would be more correctly written as something like: "Do you know... Where does Susan work?" The person speaking might have a short attention span or be forgetful. Ellipse (...) denotes a trailing off, or a pause. It still marks the end of a sentence (or fragment) and the next word should be capitalized, and the start of a new sentence. Commented Oct 15, 2014 at 20:51
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2Sentences like #2 are rarely written and occur mainly in spontaneous (unplanned) speech, so as you can see, different people have different opinions about how they should be written down. It is clear, at least, that there should be an intonational boundary between the two, if not a pause as well.– user230Commented Oct 15, 2014 at 22:02