RE: Another grammar gotcha

[Fred Ridder <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>]

Responding to Dan Goldstein's suggestion, Fox Cole wrote:
> > Just as you wrote yourself: "For a loan with an introductory rate, use
> > either Table X or Table Y to change the loan's regular rate. Both tables
> > leave the introductory rate unchanged."
> >
> 
> Assuming the sentence isn't contextually surrounded by this information, I'd
> completely agree. The original sentence does not convey the either/or nature
> of these tables, but that concept is crucial. It also neatly resolves the
> problem you're wrestling.
> 
> However, if such a rewrite is out of the question, this might be a case
> where I'd insert a helper verb to alleviate the awkwardness.
> 
> "For a loan with an introductory rate, Table X or Y will change the loan's
> regular rate, leaving the introductory rate unchanged."


The problem with this approach is that it is not the *tables* that change the loan's rate. Some person (or person plus computer system) has to *use* the tables when performing some required action to actually change the rate. 

-Fred Ridder

 

 
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