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Rotter Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Would or will
British Euro MPs want the UK government to back them in a dispute with France over the number of European Parliament sessions held in Strasbourg.
France insists that MEPs must stick to the 12 Strasbourg sessions a year that are required by the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
But in March a majority of MEPs voted to squeeze two of the sessions into one week, to reduce the huge cost of shuttling from Brussels to Strasbourg.
France objected and has asked the EU's top court to overrule the vote.
The Strasbourg shuttle is estimated to cost 203m euros (£160m; $290m) a year. British MEPs have branded it a "travelling circus".
Ending the shuttle could cut 20,268 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, the Green Party says.
But changing the EU treaty would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states' governments. It is not clear how many would back France in the dispute.
..............................................................................................................
The following two sentences of the above have the verb 'would'.
Why should it be 'would'?
I would write 'will'.
But changing the EU treaty would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states' governments. It is not clear how many would back France in the dispute.
France insists that MEPs must stick to the 12 Strasbourg sessions a year that are required by the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
But in March a majority of MEPs voted to squeeze two of the sessions into one week, to reduce the huge cost of shuttling from Brussels to Strasbourg.
France objected and has asked the EU's top court to overrule the vote.
The Strasbourg shuttle is estimated to cost 203m euros (£160m; $290m) a year. British MEPs have branded it a "travelling circus".
Ending the shuttle could cut 20,268 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, the Green Party says.
But changing the EU treaty would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states' governments. It is not clear how many would back France in the dispute.
..............................................................................................................
The following two sentences of the above have the verb 'would'.
Why should it be 'would'?
I would write 'will'.
But changing the EU treaty would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states' governments. It is not clear how many would back France in the dispute.
Top answer
Agreed, it's a tossup. I could accept either version. My guess is that the writer used "would" because the treaty is not yet ratified therefore "would" indicates an expectiation.
- Agreed, it's a tossup.
- I could accept either version.
- My guess is that the writer used "would" because the treaty is not yet ratified therefore "would" indicates an expectiation.
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2 Answers
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Agreed, it's a tossup. I could accept either version. My guess is that the writer used "would" because the treaty is not yet ratified therefore "would" indicates an expectiation.
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RotterBut changing the EU treaty would require the unanimous agreement of all 27 member states' governments. It is not clear how many would back France in the dispute.I think that changing would to will in these sentences gives the impression that the related actions are likely to happen sooner. That seems to me to be OK in the first sentence,
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