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Message |
MHW
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:05 am
Post subject: Fwd: Grammar question |
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-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com>
| Quote: | I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
Can anyone explain why the above sentence is incorrect, if it is
incorrect. |
---
Can anyone advise, please? Thanks.
--
MHW
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Alan OBrien
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 12:10 am
Post subject: Re: Grammar question |
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"MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2q3n6oFr6k36U1@uni-berlin.de...
| Quote: | -- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
Can anyone explain why the above sentence is incorrect, if it is
incorrect.
|
You are right.
This sounds like one of those Mission & Vision statements. If you put
"Mission and Vision" (in quotes) into Google you shall enjoy yourself. I
haven't laughed so much since I cashed my Giro! |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 1:59 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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In alt.english.usage on Mon, 6 Sep 2004 19:05:06 +0100 "MHW"
<pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
| Quote: | -- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
|
I agree that it doesn't sound right, but I doubt if it is instinct
that tells you that. I just asked a baby what he thought, and he
didn't even answer.
in·stinct n. 1. An inborn pattern of behavior that is characteristic
of a species and is often a response to specific environmental
stimuli. 3. An innate capability or aptitude. AHD3
This same dictionary includes a 2nd definition that fits your use, "2.
A powerful motivation or impulse." but although people use it, it's
wrong. Most dictionaries include whatever people use, whether it is
wrong or not. OK, let those regulars who oppose this notion start
flaming me.
| Quote: | Can anyone explain why the above sentence is incorrect, if it is
incorrect.
|
I have heard this kind of thing a few times, so much that I wonder if
it isn't ok in Britain, but that's just speculation.
In the US, "committed" meaning "dedicated" is generally followed by
"to" and the "to" is followed by a noun or gerund or a gerund phrase.
"Maintining" in this use is a gerund, that is, a form of a verb that
ends in -ing and functions as a noun.
An infinitive can also function as a noun. For example: I want to
shout. But if "to maintain" is an infinitive, then where is the "to"
that should follow "committed"? I don't think anyone would say, "We
are committed to to maintain our standard of excellence"
(Although many people do say things like "The reason is is that we
were tired." This isn't the most common form. I can't think of that
right now, and I don't recall if this has ever been discussed here.
| Quote: | ---
Can anyone advise, please? Thanks.
|
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:49 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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In alt.english.usage on Mon, 6 Sep 2004 19:05:06 +0100 "MHW"
<pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
| Quote: | -- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
Can anyone explain why the above sentence is incorrect, if it is
incorrect.
---
Can anyone advise, please? Thanks.
|
Posters should use more specific subject lines, than Grammar question.
Everything here is a question or a statement and about a third of them
relate to grammar. "Committed to maintain" would be tell us more.
So I almost didn't find this again.
On tv just now, someone said, "I was offered to buy them." He said it
more than once. The rest of his English for several minutes was fine.
There's no limit to what people will say.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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Raymond S. Wise
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 2:54 am
Post subject: Re: Grammar question |
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Alan OBrien wrote:
| Quote: | "MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2q3n6oFr6k36U1@uni-berlin.de...
-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our
standard of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'. Can anyone explain why the above sentence is
incorrect, if it is incorrect.
You are right.
This sounds like one of those Mission & Vision statements. If you put
"Mission and Vision" (in quotes) into Google you shall enjoy
yourself. I haven't laughed so much since I cashed my Giro!
|
To Leftpondians: Alan's last sentence actually makes some sort of sense. I
thought he had misspelled the phrase "I haven't laughed so much since I
crashed my gyro!" Not so.
From the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* at
www.m-w.com :
[quote]
Main Entry: *gi·ro*
Pronunciation: 'jir-(")O, 'zhir-; 'jE-(")rO, 'zhE-, _esp British_ 'jI-
Function: _noun_
Etymology: German, circulation (of currency), from Italian, from Latin
_gyrus_ gyre
: a service of many European banks that permits authorized direct transfer
of funds among account holders as well as conventional transfers by check
[end quote]
--
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com |
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Peter Duncanson
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:10 am
Post subject: Re: Grammar question |
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On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 15:54:10 -0500, "Raymond S. Wise"
<mplsrayNOSPAM@gbronline.com> wrote:
[quote]Alan OBrien wrote:
"MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2q3n6oFr6k36U1@uni-berlin.de...
-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our
standard of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'. Can anyone explain why the above sentence is
incorrect, if it is incorrect.
You are right.
This sounds like one of those Mission & Vision statements. If you put
"Mission and Vision" (in quotes) into Google you shall enjoy
yourself. I haven't laughed so much since I cashed my Giro!
To Leftpondians: Alan's last sentence actually makes some sort of sense. I
thought he had misspelled the phrase "I haven't laughed so much since I
crashed my gyro!" Not so.
From the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* at
www.m-w.com :
| Quote: |
Main Entry: *gi·ro*
Pronunciation: 'jir-(")O, 'zhir-; 'jE-(")rO, 'zhE-, _esp British_ 'jI-
Function: _noun_
Etymology: German, circulation (of currency), from Italian, from Latin
_gyrus_ gyre
: a service of many European banks that permits authorized direct transfer
of funds among account holders as well as conventional transfers by check
[end quote]
|
It's more specific than that. Some decades ago the UK government established
the National Giro Bank which used Post Offices as Bank Branches.
The purpose was to provide a means of making welfare payments to individuals
who did not have bank accounts. A person would receive his/her Giro cheque
and cash it at a PO. It was also possible for anyone to open a current
account with the Giro bank. These days the bank is in private ownership, but
"Giro (cheque)" is still a colloquialism for a welfare payment cheque.
--
Peter Duncanson
UK
(posting from a.e.u) |
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Martin Ambuhl
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:03 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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meirman wrote:
| Quote: | Posters should use more specific subject lines, than Grammar question.
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Posters should not use more commas, than their sentences can support. |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:49 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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In alt.english.usage on Mon, 06 Sep 2004 18:03:16 -0400 Martin Ambuhl
<mambuhl@earthlink.net> posted:
| Quote: | meirman wrote:
Posters should use more specific subject lines, than Grammar question.
Posters should not use more commas, than their sentences can support.
|
Good, point.
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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Margot
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 3:58 pm
Post subject: Re: Grammar question |
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Peter Duncanson wrote:
[quote]On Mon, 6 Sep 2004 15:54:10 -0500, "Raymond S. Wise"
mplsrayNOSPAM@gbronline.com> wrote:
Alan OBrien wrote:
"MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2q3n6oFr6k36U1@uni-berlin.de...
-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our
standard of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'. Can anyone explain why the above sentence is
incorrect, if it is incorrect.
You are right.
This sounds like one of those Mission & Vision statements. If you put
"Mission and Vision" (in quotes) into Google you shall enjoy
yourself. I haven't laughed so much since I cashed my Giro!
To Leftpondians: Alan's last sentence actually makes some sort of sense. I
thought he had misspelled the phrase "I haven't laughed so much since I
crashed my gyro!" Not so.
From the *Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary* at
www.m-w.com :
| Quote: |
Main Entry: *gi·ro*
Pronunciation: 'jir-(")O, 'zhir-; 'jE-(")rO, 'zhE-, _esp British_ 'jI-
Function: _noun_
Etymology: German, circulation (of currency), from Italian, from Latin
_gyrus_ gyre
: a service of many European banks that permits authorized direct transfer
of funds among account holders as well as conventional transfers by check
[end quote]
It's more specific than that. Some decades ago the UK government established
the National Giro Bank which used Post Offices as Bank Branches.
The purpose was to provide a means of making welfare payments to individuals
who did not have bank accounts. A person would receive his/her Giro cheque
and cash it at a PO. It was also possible for anyone to open a current
account with the Giro bank. These days the bank is in private ownership, but
"Giro (cheque)" is still a colloquialism for a welfare payment cheque.
|
....and the amounts paid are laughably small. |
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MHW
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:07 pm
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:t8fpj0t0pljj468tqeqmd393f2556bjkak@4ax.com...
| Quote: | "MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
I agree that it doesn't sound right, but I doubt if it is instinct
that tells you that.
|
It doesn't tell me that. I forwarded the question on behalf of someone else.
| Quote: | Posters should use more specific subject lines, than Grammar question.
|
Should they? There's only ever been one thread on this NG archived by Google
Groups that is called 'Fwd: Grammar question'. In other words, it's unique.
I'll keep it in mind for next time.
| Quote: | Everything here is a question or a statement and about a third of them
relate to grammar. "Committed to maintain" would be tell us more.
So I almost didn't find this again.
|
My newsreader allows me to locate any post I want without browsing through
subject headers. Perhaps you should update yours?
My thanks to all those who offered help.
--
MHW |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 7:12 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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In alt.english.usage on Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:07:44 +0100 "MHW"
<pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
| Quote: | meirman <meirman@invalid.com> wrote in message
news:t8fpj0t0pljj468tqeqmd393f2556bjkak@4ax.com...
"MHW" <pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
-- Jay Gray <NOgSrPaAdMus@hotmail.com
I saw an advert which said: "We are committed to maintain our standard
of excellence"
This doesn't quite sound right. Instinct tells me it should be
'maintaining'.
I agree that it doesn't sound right, but I doubt if it is instinct
that tells you that.
It doesn't tell me that. I forwarded the question on behalf of someone else.
Posters should use more specific subject lines, than Grammar question.
Should they? There's only ever been one thread on this NG archived by Google
Groups that is called 'Fwd: Grammar question'. In other words, it's unique.
|
But I wasn't looking in Google for a thread whose name I knew. I was
looking in my newsreader for the thread that was about this topic, and
I passed over "Grammar question" several times, because it didn't
remind me of this particular topic.
| Quote: | I'll keep it in mind for next time.
|
I could have added that lots of people do it, but this is the first
time I've complained. That's because usually when I have a problem
finding a thread, because the thread name is generic, I either give up
or I'm not posting anyhow.his is almost the first time I've had a
second reply to the same original post and couldn't find the thread I
was looking for.
I think I sounded too harsh, and I apologize.
| Quote: | Everything here is a question or a statement and about a third of them
relate to grammar. "Committed to maintain" would be tell us more.
So I almost didn't find this again.
My newsreader allows me to locate any post I want without browsing through
subject headers. Perhaps you should update yours?
|
Even if you don't know the name of the thread. the subject line?.
| Quote: | My thanks to all those who offered help.
|
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years |
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Odysseus
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 11:09 am
Post subject: Re: Fwd: Grammar question |
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meirman wrote:
| Quote: |
In alt.english.usage on Tue, 7 Sep 2004 11:07:44 +0100 "MHW"
pablo9us@yahoo.com> posted:
[snip]
My newsreader allows me to locate any post I want without browsing through
subject headers. Perhaps you should update yours?
Even if you don't know the name of the thread. the subject line?.
This newsreader (part of Netscape 4.7) isn't exactly full-featured, |
but it does allow me to sort messages in different ways than by
thread, which can sometimes be useful. When I'm trying to find a
posting whose subject line I don't remember -- or which has been
changed -- I'll sort the available messages by sender (to look
through either my postings or a correspondent's) or by date, so I'm
often saved from having to search in Google Groups. Your newsreader
might have such a capability, even if it (like mine) doesn't have a
global search facility.
--
Odysseus |
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