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New2grammar Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

imperative vs imminent

0 The Human Rights Watch paper said American military authorities were detaining 513 Iraqi children as "imperative threats to security" as of May 12, and has detained around 2,400 children in Iraq since 2003 -- some as young as 10. 02br
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00Can I replace 'imperative' with 'imminent' without change of meaning?02br
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00Thanks!0-
  

Top answer

0 'Imperative' means necessary, mandatory, and it doesn't make sense here. I think you 01b 00should02b 00 replace the word with 'imminent' (certain to happen soon). 0-

— Philip

  • 0 'Imperative' means necessary, mandatory, and it doesn't make sense here.
  • I think you 01b 00should02b 00 replace the word with 'imminent' (certain to happen soon).
  • 0-
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4 Answers
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0 'Imperative' means necessary, mandatory, and it doesn't make sense here. I think you 01b00should02b00 replace the word with 'imminent' (certain to happen soon). 0-
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0I've never seen "imperative" used that way - it sounds like it's "really, really important that they threaten security" - CLEARLY not what they mean. 02br
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00That means it's some bizarre form of military/government jargon, and who knows what they really meant. If it's in quotes like that, it means the news source is quoting directly from the statement or document, and yo
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0 Barbara is right. This is a direct quote and, in general, cannot be changed. There are ways for a third party to indicate that he thinks the original source is incorrect.02br
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00For example:02br
00The Human Rights Watch paper said American military authorities were detaining 513 Iraqi children as "imperative 01span00[sic]
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0Thanks, everyone. I don't intend to actually replace it as I'm just trying to learn different ways of saying the same thing. Thanks for the information.0-
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