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Chivalry Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Preposition problem...again
The below sentence is what I saw on a reliable textbook of English:
"Mediators were standing by, prepared to intervene in the labor dispute even though both sides had refused earlier offers
for assistance."
The preposition "for" is indicated to be incorrect in this sentence, which led me to suppose that it's probably supposed to be replaced by "of." But I'm not entirely sure.
My actual question is, why is it even incorrect?
It sounds totally fine to me,
and, another thing, why is the word "mediators" at the beginning of the sentence unprecedented by any definite article?
It sounds weird to me.
"Mediators were standing by, prepared to intervene in the labor dispute even though both sides had refused earlier offers
for assistance."
The preposition "for" is indicated to be incorrect in this sentence, which led me to suppose that it's probably supposed to be replaced by "of." But I'm not entirely sure.
My actual question is, why is it even incorrect?
It sounds totally fine to me,
and, another thing, why is the word "mediators" at the beginning of the sentence unprecedented by any definite article?
It sounds weird to me.
Top answer
'Mediators' carries no definite article because there are no specific ones indicated and no previous mention of any. 'The' is frequently omitted from plural nouns unless there is a real demand for it. The usual collocation in this instance is ' offer of assistance/advice/ etc'.
- 'Mediators' carries no definite article because there are no specific ones indicated and no previous mention of any.
- 'The' is frequently omitted from plural nouns unless there is a real demand for it.
- The usual collocation in this instance is ' offer of assistance/advice/ etc'.
- 'For' sounds odd if not wrong to me.
- Of course, 'for' is correct in such as this: 'I received a nice offer for my car yesterday'.
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1 Answers
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'Mediators' carries no definite article because there are no specific ones indicated and no previous mention of any. 'The' is frequently omitted from plural nouns unless there is a real demand for it.
The usual collocation in this instance is 'offer of assistance/advice/etc'. 'For' sounds odd if not wrong to me. Of course, 'for' is correct in such as this: 'I received a
The usual collocation in this instance is 'offer of assistance/advice/etc'. 'For' sounds odd if not wrong to me. Of course, 'for' is correct in such as this: 'I received a
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