Thank you for all your ideas
Here I quote the context
"It should be no surprise that problems concerning multinationals make
good headlines because, as top companies in the world, they are
supposed to represent good quality and customer satisfaction. Their
omnipresence means that their problems have stronger impact on
consumers than smaller firms, and therefore, deserve more scrutiny."
"As for multinationals, instead of complaining for being targeted by
customers and the news media, they should ensure they operate
ethically and without double standards. Trying to cover up errors and
resist public supervision would only lead to bigger crises, and
undermine their strategies in China."
Best,
Hou Pei
On Apr 10, 6:43 pm, "splay" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> 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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