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Laborious Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Grammar question: 1 (Oct 18, 2013)

Hi dear teaches,

The following sentences have been taken from a news paper (The Times of India). I've put my confusions or doubts in bold and have underlined them as well, below the paragraphs.

The Delhi high court has upheld the life sentence awarded by a lower court to a man accused of killing his wife for dowry, while observing that such cases are a "curse" on society, and should be dealt with a heavy hand.

According to the prosecution, Mahesh had married Geeta in 2004. He was unemployed and used to often harass Geeta for not bring sufficient dowry.


...the life sentence awarded by a lower court... (Teachers, will it be wrong if I say 'the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court'? Why saying just 'the life sentence awarded by a lower court' is more natural or appropriate if it is?)

...man accused of killing... (Teachers, shouldn't it be "a man who was accused of killing"? I'd like to know why it's more appropriate or natural to say "man accused of killing" than saying "man who was accused of killing".)

He was unemployed and... (Teachers, Why did the writer chose 'past simple'? Since the preceding sentence is in past perfect, wouldn't it be more natural to use past perfect 'had been unemployed'?)

...and used to often harass Geeta for not bring sufficient dowry. (Shouldn't it be 'for not bringing sufficient dowry', teachers?)

Thank you all.
  

Top answer

the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court... (Teachers, will it be wrong if I say 'the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court'? No.

— Mister Micawber

  • the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court...
  • (Teachers, will it be wrong if I say 'the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court'?
  • No.
  • ) It is tighter and better style.
  • man accused of killing...
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10 Answers
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Laborious.the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court... (Teachers, will it be wrong if I say 'the life sentence which was/that was awarded by a lower court'?
No.
LaboriousWhy saying just 'the life sentence awarded by a lower court' is more natural or appropriate if it is?)
It is tighter and better style.
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I have these two paragraphs. I've put my confusions or doubts in bold and have underlined them as well, below the paragraphs.

The Delhi high court has upheld the the life sentence awarded by a lower court to a man accused of killing his wife for dowry, while observing that such cases are a "curse" on society, and should be dealt with a heavy hand
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Dear Clive and Mr. Micawber, heartily thanks to both of you for guiding me.

So, it's just a matter of style. Saying 'the life sentence awarded...' or 'the man accused of...', is just a shorter way of saying 'the life sentence that was/which was awarded' or 'the man who was accused of'. And it doesn't make any difference to the meaning the writer has in his/her mind, right teachers?
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Surely the word "passed" would be more appropriate when referring to sentencing
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bonviveurSurely the word "passed" would be more appropriate when referring to sentencing
Perhaps not in Indian English. I agree with your choice in AmE or BrE.
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I understand where you are coming from Mister Micawber - but then I suppose that we are relying on the translation skills of whoever wrote the original article. Once you put your toe in the water there is always a crocodile waiting to bite it off :-)
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bonviveurn I suppose that we are relying on the translation skills of whoever wrote the original article
It was originally in English. The Times of India is an English newspaper.
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To be factually correct, and I apologise for being pedantic, Mr Micawber but The Times of India is an Indian, English language, newspaper and, as such, whilst the articles are written in English it would be "translated" English and dependent on the knowledge of English of the writer. The Indian Legal system is an extension of the UK legal system from colonial days and sentences are passed. Example
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You are welcome to put as much time and effort into your replies as you would like to, and we are grateful for your help. The thread should not change direction, of course. and you need to consider the level of the student when considering the depth of your response: overkill can be counterproductive, and threads that become too 'linguistic' usually end up being moved to the cobwebby corner calle
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Point taken Mister Micawber. Having a business background in use of the English language I tend to concur with the sentiments expressed in the article on the home Page "small businesses read this" regarding the need for English to be used, for the sake of clarity, rather than variations. It is a fine line that I must learn to walk and I thank you for your guidance
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