To get to grips...

Question

Hello,my questions:1) is this a grammatically correct sentence?2) could you use this in a formal piece of writing?"You have to be able to come to grips with your life"thanx

Dimsumexpress · Accepted Answer

tintimanHello,
my questions:

1) is this a grammatically correct sentence?

2) could you use this in a formal piece of writing?

"You have to be able to come to grips with your life"

thanx

#1 Yes, #2 No,".... have to be able to come to grips...." it's not a natural English construction, not even for casual conversational usage.
Alternative Suggestions:

"You have to ~~be able to~~ come to grips with your life", or
"You must come to grips with your life"

Mr Wordy · Answer

"come to grips with" sounds odd to me; the expression I'm familiar with is "get to grips with". http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Idioms/C/come_to_grips_with_get_to_grips_with_610.htm says that "get" is mostly BrE, and "come" is mostly AmE, which would explain it.

Anyway, whether it's "get" or "come", the expression is usable in most contexts, but unsuitable for very formal writing.

"You have to be able to come/get to grips with your life" is not impossible, but be sure you don't simply mean "You have to come/get to grips with your life".

Jeff Cowell · Answer

Hi,

The other suggestions are much better, but neither is appropriate for formal writing.

"You have to ~~be able to~~ come to grips with your life", or

"You must come to grips with your life"

Very fomally: "One must take control of one's life" or "It is important to come to grips with one's life."

"Come to grips" implies taking control, especially when things are going badly. It also implies a sense of awareness that might not have been there before.

For example: "After several years of depression, drug abuse, and homelessness, Jack began to come to grips with the reality of life without Jane."

To get to grips...

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