Natural Expression

Question

Could you tell me which one between with "other" and without "other", and between "of" and "from" sounds more natural?
Thank you.

A1. Social status is an recoginiton of other/~~other~~ people.
A2. Social status is an recoginiton from other/~~other~~ people.
B1. Social status is an acknowlegement of other/~~other~~ people.
B2. Social status is an acknowlegement from other/~~other~~ people.

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

A1. Social status is an recoginiton of other/~~other~~ people.
A2. Social status is an recoginiton from other/~~other~~ people.
B1. Social status is an acknowlegement of other/~~other~~ people.
B2. Social status is an acknowlegement from other/~~other~~ people.

Hi lucas21c,
None of the above sounds natural to my ear. Between A-1 and B-1, the core meaning is nearly identical. There may be several ways of expressing the same meaning. But to capture the intended meaning from your sentences, I would probably say something like:
* Social status means being recognized by others. (people -is not necessary because "others " already infers "people")
* Achieving social status means being acknowledged by the people ( Here people is implied, the people in your community or society). But "others" works just as well with a slight difference, meaning "people" in general. Hope that makes sense.

Lucas21c · Answer

Thank you very much, dimsumexpress.

1. If I understand your comments correctly, I don't need to use "other" and "the people" at same time because one already include the other and I should avoid redundancy of meaning, right?

2. How about "Social status means being acknowledged by the people?" Is it also acceptable?

Dimsumexpress · Answer

lucas21c1. If I understand your comments correctly, I don't need to use "other" and "the people" at same time because one already include the other and I should avoid redundancy of meaning, right?

Yes, at least in this context.

lucas21c How about "by the people?" Is it also acceptable?

It is understood and acceptable. but personally I feel it lacks the full semantic context. (may be just me) By leaving out "achieving", you may as well leave out "by the people" and make it a general statement: Social status means being acknowledged / recognized; that sounds more natural to my ear.

Lucas21c · Answer

Why you choose a litte different wording in each sentence is becasue of the differences of meaning or nuance between "recognize" and "acknowledge?"

Dimsumexpress · Answer

I did it for semantic reason and "recognize" and "acknowledge" are similar in meaning with that context. Because there is a difference between "social status" and "achieving social status". By adding the present participle, achieving, it emphasize  the essence of success through hard work and effort. Without it, "social status" is just a general term. That's how I interpret and see it. To me, each word constructed into a sentence contributes to the core meaning. I am not sure if this makes sense to you.

Lucas21c · Answer

If so, could you tell me why you didn't say "Achieving social status means being recognized by others." instead of "Social status means being recognized by others." as you told me "Achieving social status means being acknowledged by the people." sounds more natural than "Social status means being acknowledged by the people?"

Dimsumexpress · Answer

lucas21cIf so, could you tell me why you didn't say "Achieving social status means being recognized by others." instead of "Social status means being recognized by others.

Yes I did, if you read my earlier post carefully.

Between A-1 and B-1, the core meaning is nearly identical. There may be several ways of expressing the same meaning. But to capture the intended meaning from your sentences, I would probably say something like:
* Social status means being recognized by others. (people -is not necessary because "others " already infers "people")
* Achieving social status means being acknowledged by the people ( Here people is implied, the people in your community or society). But "others" works just as well with a slight difference, meaning "people" in general.

There is one aspect of learning that I think learners should realize, which is, we do the best we can to explain the grammatical aspect. Some of the helpers have teaching credentials and therefore can explain more clearly than others. I fall into the "others" category. But I'll do the best of my ability to help. That said, there will be times and instances where explanations /answers don't seem to conform to the academically learned grammar rules. One of these areas is semantics , among others and I don't know how I can be more clear with my explanations. If the words used in the context don't effectively produce the intended meaning. there may have issues on the semantic level, such as A-1 and B-1. That's my opinion.

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