Ahn  +  402501 Thu, 09 Aug 07 05:29 PM The Administrative Committee let buses stop 100m away down from the mountain so that tourists have a difficulty in approaching the hotels.   Does 'away down from' make sense?      Ahn Joined on Thu, Mar 1 2007 South Korea Regular Member 507

	Grammar Geek  +  402502 Thu, 09 Aug 07 05:40 PM Hi Ahn, Usually, in the US, "committee" takes a singular verb. Down from the base of the mountain or away from (a particular place). Have difficulty (not "a" difficulty) The Administrative Committee lets buses stop 100 meters from the base of the mountain, so tourists have a difficult time approaching the hotels. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,665 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Verbs, Singular Verbs

	Ahn  +  402509 Thu, 09 Aug 07 05:47 PM Thanks for your help, Grammar Geek. I use 'let' as a past tense. How about  "the Administrative Committee let buses stop 100m  down from the base of mountain so that tourists may have difficulty in approaching the hotels."? Ahn Grammar, Tenses, Past Tenses

	Grammar Geek  +  402571 Thu, 09 Aug 07 08:41 PM If let is past, then you shouldn't have "tourists have" in the present. Grammar Geek

	Ahn  +  402668 Fri, 10 Aug 07 04:25 AM I see.  the Administrative Committee let buses stop 100m away down from the base of the mountain so that tourists might have difficulty in approaching the hotels.   Then how about using 'might have'?   Ahn

	Grammar Geek  +  402679 Fri, 10 Aug 07 05:28 AM To me, the tense pairings that make sense are: If the AC let the buses stop... mountain, the tourists might have difficulty... (not an actual situation - what may happen if they do this) The AC let the buses stop... mountain, so the tourists had difficulty... (actual past) Because the AC lets the buses stop... mountain, the tourists have difficulty (or are having difficulty) ... current actual situation By the way, two other points: 1) "Let" is an interesting choice. That generally means give permission for something you are looking for. My mother let me stay out until midnight. My boss let me have a day off. You may want to use "permitted." 2) Your phrasing "They let... so that" makes is sound like the difficulty was the desired outcome.  I'll let you borrow my car so that you have a way to get to your sister's. Grammar Geek Tenses

	Ahn  +  402698 Fri, 10 Aug 07 06:21 AM Thanks for your detailed explanation, Grammar Geek. Sorry, I should have written the context. The 'difficulty' tourists have is actually intended  by the AC. The AC wanted to demolish the hotels but the hotel managers denied it. So they decided to let buses stop far away from the hotels so that tourists had a difficulty in going to the hotels. It was kind of a retaliatory measure. I'll replace 'let' with 'permitted'. Ahn Grammar

	Yankee  +  402704 Fri, 10 Aug 07 06:34 AM Hi Ahn I agree with GG's take on you sentence, but I think 'permitted' is just as bad as 'let' in this case.  I might reword this way: The Administrative Committee forced buses to stop 100m away from the base of the mountain so that tourists would have difficulty reaching the hotels. Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,500 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain