Re: WRONG!..... -ish?

[Dossy Shiobara <dossy -at- panoptic -dot- com>]

Funny, before I read your third sentence, I was expecting you to ask
whether the *second* sentence was acceptable or not.  While both are
gramatically correct, the second form (with the implied "do" explicitly
included) always feels awkward to me.  I think this is one of those
strange cases of the subjunctive form.

How about gerundifying (yay, verbing nouns!) the sentence, instead?

"We recommend not removing the covers that were installed at the factory."

Makes the imperative clearer ("[you] do not remove"), and avoids that
uneasy feeling altogether.  ;-)


On 2/2/12 8:52 PM, McLauchlan, Kevin wrote:
> "We recommend that you not remove the covers that were installed at the factory."
>
> "We recommend that you do not remove the covers that were installed at the factory."
>
> Is the first sentence flatly wrong, or is this a matter of style or formality?
>
> I'm at home, and my trusty Fowler's and my Strunk & White are at the office.

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