company

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Taka

#374902 Mon, 04 Jun 07 02:57 PM

I left the letter unanswered, which was the only way to keep myself from their company.

About the 'company' above, is it:

(1)an institution created to conduct business
(2)the state of being with someone
(3)either, depending on its context

?

Taka

Joined on Tue, Sep 7 2004

Japan

Senior Member (2,344)

Mister Micawber

#374906 Mon, 04 Jun 07 03:07 PM

To me, #2 is the only reasonable choice.

Mister Micawber

Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004

Yokohama

Veteran Member (22,347)

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'

Taka

#374910 Mon, 04 Jun 07 03:10 PM

Mister Micawber wrote:

To me, #2 is the only reasonable choice.

Could you tell me what your reason is and why you don't think it can be either depending on its context?

Taka

Grammar Geek

#374923 Mon, 04 Jun 07 03:25 PM

No one is forced to visit a corporation/business.

But if this person answered whatever letter he (or she) received, perhaps the person who sent it would think that a visit from THEM was welcome, and the first person doesn't want to see them - doesn't want their company in the sense of definition #2.

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (16,003)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Mister Micawber

#374930 Mon, 04 Jun 07 03:30 PM

to keep myself from their company.

GG has hit the nail on the head--we are not compelled,or impelled, to visit companies.

Mister Micawber

Taka

#374936 Mon, 04 Jun 07 03:51 PM

Grammar Geek wrote:
No one is forced to visit a corporation/business.

I don't know about your country, but some might be in Japan; some employees might be told by their companies that if they don't show up, they will lose the job, regardless of their psychological health. In fact, it's not unsusual to hear such news that some people committed suicide due to the psychological pressure.

Maybe the letter was the ultimatum from his compamy. The only way left to disconect himself from the company might be for him to leave the letter unanswered, just like blocking one of those junk e-mail messages.

Taka

Grammar

Cool Breeze

#374945 Mon, 04 Jun 07 04:11 PM

Taka wrote:
Maybe the letter was the ultimatum from his compamy. The only way left to disconect himself from the company might be for him to leave the letter unanswered, just like blocking junk e-mails.

Taka, no doubt you know Japanese society and can judge the sentence for yourself. There is no grammatical reason why company couldn't have either meaning in your sentence. A little bit like this one: Some girls don't care for a man's company unless he owns it. Smile [:)]

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (2,964)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Grammar Geek

#374946 Mon, 04 Jun 07 04:11 PM

That's possible, I suppose. More information on the context would have been helpful.

However, in that case, I would have said "the company" or "my company" and not "their company."

Grammar Geek

Taka

#374948 Mon, 04 Jun 07 04:19 PM

Grammar Geek wrote:
However, in that case, I would have said "the company" or "my company" and not "their company."

If his/her feeling was remote from the compamy, if he/she lost the sense of belonging already, wouldn't 'their company', not 'my company' be natural as well?

Taka

Grammar

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