Rephrasing
English translation: to make an attempt at (grasping)
| 23:18 Nov 11, 2005 |
| English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature | |||||||
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|  Selected response from: Derek Gill Franßen Germany Local time: 22:29 | ||||||
Grading comment
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| Discussion entries: 9 | |
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Answers
6 mins confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1| to attempt to (grasp) to make an attempt at (grasping) Explanation: ...might work here. :-) -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 7 mins (2005-11-11 23:25:22 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- Also see: http://www.google.com/search?hl=de&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-29,GGL... -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 24 mins (2005-11-11 23:42:47 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- AFTER ADDED NOTE BY ASKER: BTW - As far as style is concerned, many regard the prolific use of verbs as nouns as a sign of a poor writing style, i.e. "common culprits in passive sentences" (see "Using Verbs as Nouns" under rule 2 here: http://www.planning.org/careers/macris.htm ). ;-) -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 29 mins (2005-11-11 23:47:04 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- "Using plain English helps to make writing clear, helpful, human and polite. This guide is designed to make text in University publications easy to understand, enjoyable to read and accessible to all. It is not intended to make publications simplistic, or to crush individual writing styles." (see: http://www.strath.ac.uk/brand/copywritingstyleguide/ ). |
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42 mins confidence:
| rephrasing directs the reader ... into an attempt to grasp the inexistent Explanation: another way to express the same. Reference: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22into+an+attempt+to%2... |
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2 hrs confidence:
| rephrasing I do think it sounds good but here's a twist Explanation: only one "to" in the sentence (if you can give up induced)- but your sentence is stronger and more pointed Inevitably, the reader, and thus the critic, in the absence of/lacking a harmonious ‘state of unity’ will try/attempt to grasp (grapple with) the inexistent innermost core of the story |
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10 hrs confidence:
| rephrasing another go Explanation: It is this very absence of a harmonious state of unity that invariably induces readers and critics alike to discern the innermost core of the story, which in reality, does not exist. |
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13 hrs confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1| rephrasing comments Explanation: IMO the only simple way to avoid the repetition of 'to' (which like other answers I find perfectly natural) is to find a single verb with the same meaning. Besides being difficult, IMO that would force you to choose which of the two meanings of 'grasp' you want to keep: 'put your hands on' or 'comprehend'. That would reduce the richness of meaning arising from the ambiguous sense of 'grasp', which IMO would be a regrettable loss. That being said, perhaps you could reword this (and avoid the metaphoric difficulties of attemping to grasp something nonexistant) as follows: '... that inevitably induces the reader, and thus the critic, to vainly attempt to grasp the inner core of the story.' |
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