Sentence Analysis--two questions

Question

"Once I have heard back from my former employers about whether they accept to be my reference, I will call you."1) about whether they accept to be my reference= How is this functioning? Adverbial answering what?2) What about this version below... Is it still correct? What is this phrase now?"Once I have heard back from my former employers whether they accept to be my reference, I will call you."Thanks

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Once I have heard back from my former employers about whether they accept to be my reference, I will call you."

1) about whether they accept to be my reference= How is this functioning? Adverbial answering what?

2) What about this version below... Is it still correct? What is this phrase now?

"Once I have heard back from my former employers whether they accept to be my reference, I will call you."

Neither of these is correctly worded. I have marked the main problem words in red, above. I suggest this.

Once I have heard back from my former employers about whether they are willing to give me references, I will call you."

The underlined portion is a noun clause.

Note this.

The traditional form of words is the someone gives you a reference.

Today, people often refer to such a person as 'my referee'.

eg Will you please give me a reference?

eg Will you please be my referee?

Finally, where I live, the normal practice is to ask your previous employers for references before you start to apply for a new job. If you made the above statement to most prospective employers, they would think that you are not good at planning, and would quite probably not offer you the job.

Best wishes, Clive

English 1b3 · Answer

Thank you. Your version is much clearer.

1) What about if I delete about?

2) What about if I replace about with 'regarding' or 'as to'?

Sentence Analysis--two questions

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