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Hi everybody,There is this sentence (from OALD):Capital punishment is the legal killing of a person for a crime they have been proved in a court of law to have committed.#1 Is it good grammatically?#2 Could you write it in other words (in an easier way)?Thanks for your answer in advance.

Grammarfreak · Accepted Answer

Can you tell us what AOLD is ?

Hole One a New SeeCapital punishment is the legal killing of a person for a crime they have been proved in a court of law to have committed.#1 Is it good grammatically?

First of all, no, I don't see it that way. If one has taken the live of another and he has been proven guilty by due process, capital punishment is justified. Secondly, this sentence is not what I would consider good English in my opinion. As for your question, I would write it this way: Capital punishment is the ultimate retribution given to someone having committed a serious crime which has been tried and proven guilty in the court of law.

Hole One a New See · Answer

Can you tell us what AOLD is ?

That is OALD (as I wrote in my post). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. But it doesn't matter. I just tried to indicate that the source is not an unreliable source.

I still wait for other comments.

Grammarfreak · Answer

Hole One a New SeeThat is OALD (as I wrote in my post). . But it doesn't matter. I just tried to indicate that the source is not an unreliable source.

Wait a minute, you did not explain what OALD was. I found out later it was Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary later.

Hole One a New SeeI still wait for other comments

Happy waiting ............

Hole One a New See · Answer

Maybe I wasn't clear.

I'm really grateful for your comment. I'm just really curious about grammar issues in more detail.

First of all, no, I don't see it that way

I'm only interested in grammar and meaning. I didn't consider its authenticity.

Wait a minute, you did not explain what OALD was.

You are right, of course. 8th electronic. It is a little bit 'wider' than the original (and contains the content of the original one):

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/

My other recurring problem is that I can't say exactly who is reliable. So I always look for some icons (e.g. a tick under the name of a person answering my question).

I'm just a beginner. I would be grateful if you considered it.

Fivejedjon · Answer

Hole One a New SeeHi everybody,There is this sentence (from OALD):Capital punishment is the legal killing of a person for a crime they have been proved in a court of law to have committed.#1 Is it good grammatically?#2 Could you write it in other words (in an easier way)?Thanks for your answer in advance.

I can't say that this sentence is correct, but it's certainly clumsy. I'd re-word it as "Capital punishment is the legal killing of a person for a crime of which they have been found guilty in a court of law."

Fivejedjon · Answer

grammarfreakFirst of all, no, I don't see it that way. If one has taken the live of another and he has been proven guilty by due process, capital punishment is justified

Our opinions on whether capital punishment is justified or not are irrelevant to the grammatical correctness of the sentence (no pun intended).

In any case, the definition makes no comment on whether it is justified or not. It simply says that it is a legal killing - which it is in some countries.

Hole One a New See · Answer

Thank you

It is not the best to see that even better dictionaries use such sentences. Sometimes I tend to trust them without doubts.

I really don't know which dictionary is the best. I use Macmillan, Longman, Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries, too (I compare definitions because I want to understand words very well).

This particular sentence was the first sentence at the 'capital punishment' entry at 'culture' subsection.

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