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Gwuc4 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
hidden nouns
I have the following sentence:
Wnt-4 is a member of the family of x of the y family that is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
my thinking is:
if "that is necessary" corresponds to Wnt-4, specifically, then you don't need the phrase.
if "that is necessary" corresponds to either the modifier "the family of x" or "the y family" then you need "that is necessary".
Am I off the mark here?
Wnt-4 is a member of the family of x of the y family that is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
my thinking is:
if "that is necessary" corresponds to Wnt-4, specifically, then you don't need the phrase.
if "that is necessary" corresponds to either the modifier "the family of x" or "the y family" then you need "that is necessary".
Am I off the mark here?
Top answer
Hi, The whole sentence seems poorly written and confusing to me, with and without your proposed change.. The phrase 'of the family of x of the y family' seems very odd. What does that mean?
- Hi, The whole sentence seems poorly written and confusing to me, with and without your proposed change..
- The phrase 'of the family of x of the y family' seems very odd.
- What does that mean?
- Clive
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4 Answers
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Hi,
The whole sentence seems poorly written and confusing to me, with and without your proposed change..
The phrase 'of the family of x of the y family' seems very odd. What does that mean?
Clive
The whole sentence seems poorly written and confusing to me, with and without your proposed change..
The phrase 'of the family of x of the y family' seems very odd. What does that mean?
Clive
00
CliveHi,The whole sentence seems poorly written and confusing to me, with and without your proposed change.. The phrase 'of the family of x of the y family' seems very odd. What does that mean?Clivelol yeah...not my sentence actually...just editing it. But I believe the family confusion is essentially a subfamily issue (aka sub class)... how would you rephr
00
You have identified the problem, the ambiguous antecedent of the pronoun that.
One possible way to disambiguate is something like this:
Wnt-4, a member of the "X" family which is itself a member of the "Y" family, is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
Of course you have to know exactly what your meaning is to rephrase it properly. If a specific
One possible way to disambiguate is something like this:
Wnt-4, a member of the "X" family which is itself a member of the "Y" family, is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
Of course you have to know exactly what your meaning is to rephrase it properly. If a specific
00
Hi,
I'll assume the terms you want to use are sub-class and class.
I suggest
Wnt-4 is a member of the subclass x of the family y. It is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
I
I'll assume the terms you want to use are sub-class and class.
I suggest
Wnt-4 is a member of the subclass x of the family y. It is necessary for the ductal side branching in the gland.
I
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