Re: many efforts

[Marc Santacroce <santa -at- TFS -dot- COM>]

At 3:55 AM 5/20/95, douglas_thayer wrote:
>Dear All:

>My [American] co-worker is having some difference of opinion with the
>Chairman of our company over a sentence in the English translation of the
>company profile. The phrase in question:

>"...developed through many years of effort,...

>The Chairman would like to say "many years of EFFORTS"; the editor is
>adamantly opposed (with some justification) to this change. As a native
>speaker of English (the Chairman is not), the editor feels certain of his
>position, but he has been unable to justify it with rules of grammar.

>The collective wisdom of this list would be valuable as decision-making
>support. Please help! Tempers are flaring; cross-cultural relations are
>threatened...

>Also, we welcome opinion on the use of the preposition "with" in the
>following: "...the best way to reciprocate with our customers for their
>many years of patronage..." Is this preposition necessary?

>Thanks,
>Douglas Thayer
><douglas_thayer -at- smtplink -dot- syscom -dot- com -dot- tw>
>Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
=========
Re: "...developed through many years of effort,...

IMHO, you are right, but, if it's causing that much trouble, reword the
sentence, ie:

...much effort has been expended over many years,...
...our many years of research and development...

Re: "...the best way to reciprocate with our customers for their
>many years of patronage..."

reword to: "the best way to reciprocate for our customers many years of
patronage..."

Just one writer's opinion...

Reagrds,

=======================

M_a_r_c_ A. _S_a_n_t_a_c_r_o_c_e_________________________
Technical Writer/Trainer        TRW Financial Systems, Inc.
300 Lakeside Dr.                Oakland, CA 94612-3540
(510) 645-3469 (W)                  (510) 944-9814 (H)
santa -at- tfs -dot- com (W)                   santacroce -at- aol -dot- com (H)

"An idiot with a computer is a better, faster idiot!"