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MrPernickety Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary

Sentence correction

Hi,

Could you check these sentences for mistakes, please?

1. The mirror with a height of that of the average man was shattered.

2. The mirror with a height of that of an average man was shattered.

(I wanted to say that the height of the mirror was about the height of an average human being)

Thanks !
  

Top answer

You can use either the average man or an average man . Both are fine for the generic meaning. Grammatically, both sentences are correct.

— CalifJim

  • You can use either the average man or an average man .
  • Both are fine for the generic meaning.
  • Grammatically, both sentences are correct.
  • Stylistically, they are distinctly un-English.
  • Why say the height of that of an average man , which means the height of the height of an average man , when you can say the height of an average man ?
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2 Answers
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You can use either the average man or an average man. Both are fine for the generic meaning.

Grammatically, both sentences are correct. Stylistically, they are distinctly un-English. Why say the height of that of an average man, which means the height of the height of an average man, when you can say the height of an average man? And then there's
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CalifJimThat's perfectly fine, too, and simpler I think.

CJ
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