Par excellence

Question

Hello!A colleague of mine (translator), native speaker of Spanish, wrote: "Our company is committed to provide a public service par excellence".  I think this is wrong, because I have always seen "par excellence" used together with the verb "to be". I looked it up in dictionaries and found examples that confirmed my assumption. We asked the editor of a maritime magazine we work with who is British. He told us the expression was correct, but it keeps bugging me. Doesn’t it sound strange to native speakers of English? I’d rather say: “provide a public service committed to excellence” or “provide an excellent public service“

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

A colleague of mine (translator), native speaker of Spanish, wrote: "Our company is committed to provide a public service par excellence".

I think this is wrong, because I have always seen "par excellence" used together with the verb "to be". I looked it up in dictionaries and found examples that confirmed my assumption.

We asked the editor of a maritime magazine we work with who is British. He told us the expression was correct, but it keeps bugging me.

Doesn’t it sound strange to native speakers of English?

I’d rather say: “provide a public service committed to excellence” or “provide an excellent public service“

Hmmm. I guess it's OK. However, I'm more used to it being used to describe something that already exists or has already existed. That's because it sounds a little odd to me to talk of something as 'the best example of its type' if it does not yet exist. It certainly sounds to me optimistic, perhaps even a bit pretentious, in your example. I prefer your other suggestions for wording.

Best wishes, Clive

Par excellence

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions