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Has to be served

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Latest post Wed, May 16 2007 10:45 PM by Rex. 10 replies.
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Rex  +  365858 Wed, 16 May 07 01:14 PM

The board has the power to dismiss Mr Wolfowitz, and will meet again on Wednesday to consider his fate.

"You still have the opportunity to avoid long-term damage by resolving this matter in a fair and equitable way that recognises that we all tried to do the right thing," Mr Wolfowitz said, according to a statement released by his lawyers.

Earlier on Tuesday, the White House said it still supported Mr Wolfowitz, but added that all options were still open.

"We've made clear that we support Paul Wolfowitz," said spokesman Tony Snow, adding that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served.

After the hearing in Washington Mr Wolfowitz's lawyer Robert Bennett his client's performance justified "the full support he has from leadership in the White House".

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In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.

It should be the present tense. It should be 'that the bank's "best interests" also has to be served.

This is an ongoing affair. What do you think?

Rex
Joined on Wed, Jul 28 2004
Full Member 358
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Marius Hancu  +  365864 Wed, 16 May 07 01:20 PM
>In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.

Wrong formulation. You should have said:


In my opinion, in the above it was incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.

And you'd have been wrong anyway. The original is correct. Study it and think about it.

When you see something in the press, that has been normally reviewed by editors, and those guys know better English than most other people, sorry.



Marius Hancu
Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006
Veteran Member 11,673
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Yankee  +  365868 Wed, 16 May 07 01:26 PM
 Rex wrote:
In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.  Yes

It should be the present tense. It should be 'that the bank's "best interests" also has to be served.  No, because the second half of the sentence is reported speech (not a direct quote).  However, in a direct quote, it would be "... the bank's best interests have to be served".


The use of 'had' is fine and quite normal.  In the sentence "adding that" means "he added that" (i.e. reported speech).
Yankee
Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006
Connecticut, USA
Veteran Member 6,494
Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain
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Rex  +  365959 Wed, 16 May 07 03:15 PM
I thank both of you for the excellent replies.
Marius wrote the following:
In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.
Wrong formulation.
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I don't know why Marius objected to my way of writing. I believe when I write 'it would be incorrect' it means to some extent that I believe it is not correct.

If I write ' it will be incorrect' there are no doubts in my mind. The degree of certainity is higer when I write ' it will be incorrect' something.
Let us say I wrote a wrong sentence. When you write your correction, you would write in the following manner.
I would rewrite ...
You don't write '' I will rewrite ...

If you write 'I will rewrite ...  , there is a great certainity.
For me to write 'I would rewrite ... means you are a bit flexible. There are other ways of formulating too.

I may be wrong here.

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Please read the following:
I have some plans to buy a Linksys router. I could tell you one of the following:
1. I will buy a Linksys router. [ This means today or tomorrow, when I go to town, I will go to a shop and buy one.]
2. I would buy a Linksys router.  [ Here I am not certain as to the purchase.]
Rex
Yankee  +  365991 Wed, 16 May 07 03:44 PM
 Yankee wrote:
 Rex wrote:
In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.  Yes  No

It should be the present tense. It should be 'that the bank's "best interests" also has to be served.  No, because the second half of the sentence is reported speech (not a direct quote).  However, in a direct quote, it would be "... the bank's best interests have to be served".


The use of 'had' is fine and quite normal.  In the sentence "adding that" means "he added that" (i.e. reported speech).
Sorry about my confusing post.  I meant to tell you that the sentence was correct as written.

If you did not write the sentence yourself, then it would have been better to ask whether the sentence "is incorrect (as it is written)" or "was incorrect (as it was written)".
Yankee
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Marius Hancu  +  366061 Wed, 16 May 07 05:57 PM
>In the above it would be incorrect to write 'that the bank's "best interests" also had to be served'.

It would be isn't appropriate because it's already there (in the above), it's already written.

Would be is hypothetical and it's about present or future time. You can't make a hypothesis about something which already EXISTS, and has been already done/written in the past.

Thus you must use was.

Would be incorrect would fit in other contexts, but not as you posted it.
Marius Hancu
Rex  +  366112 Wed, 16 May 07 07:47 PM
All right, what you say is that it doesn't fit for the given context. These minute differences are tricky, as far as I am concerned.
I have seen umpteen times people have written the following words when correcting sentences.

I would write ...

You may have written like this way too. 
So when correcting sentences, it is ideal to write the 'would be' form.
Please tell me if I am wrong.
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Please read the following:
I have some plans to buy a Linksys router. I could tell you one of the following:
1. I will buy a Linksys router. [ This means today or tomorrow, when I go to town, I will go to a shop and buy one.]
2. I would buy a Linksys router.  [ Here I am not certain as to the purchase.]
In the above context, is it incorrect to write the second sentence?
It doesn't have to be a buying of a router. It may be you have some plans to some vegetables.

--
Rex
Marius Hancu  +  366126 Wed, 16 May 07 08:07 PM
Forget about other cases and think about your original posting. That's where your problem was/is.

You cannot use the subjunctive/conditional for something which already exists: The quote about W ... is already there. 

You must say: it is/was incorrect, not it would be incorrect. It would be means that the quote is not yet there and someone would write it now or in the future.

I will not continue the discussion, sorry.
Marius Hancu
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Grammar Geek  +  366139 Wed, 16 May 07 08:30 PM

I have some plans to buy a Linksys router. I could tell you one of the following:
1. I will buy a Linksys router. [ This means today or tomorrow, when I go to town, I will go to a shop and buy one.]
2. I would buy a Linksys router.  [ Here I am not certain as to the purchase.] Not really. This needs some sort of condition to say why you won't. I would buy a Linksys route, but I don't have enough money. Or, you can say that you would if some other condition were met. If I had a million dollars, I would buy a big house.

If you simply want to say that you are not certain, then say "I may buy ..." (or I may not.)
Grammar Geek
Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006
Veteran Member 19,652
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!
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