Hello--
On Apr 9, 8:43 pm, "Hou Pei" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Hi, everybody
> I read the following sentences in a newspaper but I don't think they
> are grammatically correct.
> Would you write me some suggestion?
>
> 1Their omnipresence means that their problems have stronger impact on
> consumers than smaller firms,
> and therefore, deserve more scrutiny.
> My version:
> Their omnipresence means that their problems have stronger impact on
> consumers than smaller firms'
> and therefore, deserve more scrutiny.
You are right about the apostrophe. It's really "stronger impact ...
than the problems of smaller firms," and that puts "firms" in what
some call the genetive and I call the possessive case. You are also
right about the comma. A comma is needed before "and" only when it
introduces an independent clause, although there are cases where to
omit it would create ambiguity or worse. This is not one of those
cases.
I would delete the other comma, too. You can't have the comma after
"therefore" unless you have one right before it to make it
parenthetical ("than smaller firms and, therefore, deserve"), and I
think it's cleaner with no commas at all. One comma is wrong, anyhow.
> 2They should ensure they operate ethically and without double standards.
> My version:
> They should ensure they operate ethically exclusive of double standards.
Nope. Wrong word. "Exclusive of" here means that they can employ
double standards because double standards are an exception to the
principles of ethical operations.
The sentence is faulty, though, in the way that you detected. If I had
been the copyeditor, I'd have told him to rewrite it keeping in mind
that double standards are unethical. Maybe, "They should ensure they
operate ethically, without double standards." This pushes the comma
almost to the breaking point. Some would use a colon, but I think a
colon would be too strong.
> Thank you
>
> Best Regards
> Hou Pei
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