Work

Question

She cannot work outside because her one-year old baby is sickly.Without context, do you think 'outside' is necessary here?

JohnParis · Accepted Answer

Taka - why would you ask such a question without providing context?

She cannot work because her one-year old baby is sick.

She cannot work because her baby is sick.

She can't work. Her child is sick.

All of these snetences are correct.

Taka · Answer

JohnParisTaka - why would you ask such a question without providing context?

Simply because I don't have any. It's an example from a book on Japanese-English translation. The book says we need 'outside' here because if you try, you may be able to find some kinds of telework. That is, you may be able to work at home, if you try. So I wondered if it was really so.

About 'sickly', why is it wrong when it means 'prone to illness' or 'inclined to ill health'?

Regards · Answer

Hi,

...one-year-old baby is sick (sickly is an adjective).

Don't forget that hyphen before old.

I think outside is understood. She has a day off because her one-year-old baby is sick. It's obvious

that if her baby is treated for illness (probably at home), she isn't working outside. Otherwise, she would

take the baby with her to work, and you wouldn't have to say that she can't work.

By pointing out outside, you're actually stating the obvious, to my mind.

If she does work at home, then I think saying she cannot work is rather redundant.

Regardless of this issue, the verb work often includes the term outside since as far as I'm concerned,

most people work outside.

Regards

BarbaraPA · Answer

As John said in the beginning, so much could change based on context.

Today, my baby is sick. I'm not going to my job today because I'm home taking care of my baby. (The day care center doesn't allow sick children.)

She can't work today because her one-year-old child is sick.

On the other hand, "sickly" as an adjective that means chronicially unwell. I think it's very old-fashioned sounding. However, if my child is cronically unwell, I may not be able to work in a traditional office (outside the home). I may still be able to work from home however. She can't work outside the home because her one-year-old child is sickly.

And on the third (!) hand, my baby could be so chronically unwell that I can't work at all. She just needs too much attention. In that case, the word "outside" gives the wrong impression, implying she works at home. She can't work because her one-year-old child is sickly.

So your original sentence is possible, but has three problems. First is you can't tell whether it's a temporary thing, or a chronic thing. Second is the use of "sickly," which is really uncommon these days. Third is the use of "outside" alone; I think this would be much more clearly written as "outside the home."

JohnParis · Answer

Taka
JohnParis It's an example from a book on Japanese-English translation. The book says we need 'outside' here because if you try, you may be able to find some kinds of telework. That is, you may be able to work at home, if you try.
That's the context I was looking for, Taka! I suspected that this might be the case, but I couldn't be certain.

Had I know that you were not speaking about telecommuting (that's the term we often use for people that work from their home) I would have proposed a sentence containing "outside of the home" as Grammar Geek sugested in her last paragraph.

Sometimes one thinks there is no context but, in fact, there is.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

RegardsHi,
...one-year-old baby is sick (sickly is an adjective). How do you figure that ?
Don't forget that hyphen before old.

I think outside is understood. Many people work at home. So without context, you may only assume it is "outisde".

Regards

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Well, it is my bad! It is ineed an adjective. I have never seen or heard it used like this....

Regards · Answer

dimsumexpress
RegardsHi,...one-year-old baby is sick (sickly is an adjective). How do you figure that ?Don't forget that hyphen before old. I think outside is understood. Many people work at home. So without context, you may only assume it is "outisde".
Regards

Hi,

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sickly

As for your second comment, please read my response carefully.

Regards

Taka · Answer

Thanks for the detailed explanation, GG.

Grammar Geek
On the other hand, "sickly" as an adjective that means chronicially unwell. I think it's very old-fashioned sounding. However, if my child is cronically unwell, I may not be able to work in a traditional office (outside the home). I may still be able to work from home however. She can't work outside the home because her one-year-old child is sickly.

So your original sentence is possible, but has three problems. First is you can't tell whether it's a temporary thing, or a chronic thing.

Do you think 'She cannot work because her baby is prone to illness and she needs to take care of him' can work as 'She cannot work outside the home because...'? And as a stand alone sentence, what would your default interpretation of 'She cannot work because her baby is prone to illness and she needs to take care of him' be? Working outside the home?

Taka · Answer

JohnParisHad I know that you were not speaking about telecommuting (that's the term we often use for people that work from their home) ...

Do you mean that had you know that I took telecomuting into consideration, you would have proposed a sentence containing 'outside (of) the home'?

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