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failed to

English translation: they did not seek

20:51 Sep 14, 2017
English language (monolingual) [Non-PRO]
Other
English term or phrase: failed to
Hi,

"They failed to seek leave to file additional evidence."

Does this sentence mean that
they managed to, but failed to seek...
the did not seek...
they did seek to... but failed.

Thank you!
boostrer
United States
Local time: 02:57
Selected answer:they did not seek
Explanation:
It means exactly what it says - they did not seek.
Selected response from:

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 02:57
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
5 +6they did not seek
Jennifer Levey


  

Answers


8 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +6
they did not seek


Explanation:
It means exactly what it says - they did not seek.

Jennifer Levey
Chile
Local time: 02:57
Meets criteria
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 8
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty
1 min
agree  magdadh: (and it implies that they should have done)
44 mins
  -> Without more context we can't reliably assume what it 'implies'. It might, for example, imply merely that they "could" have done it but chose not to. The only thing that's clear from the ST extract we have here is that they didn't do it.
agree  MarinaM
1 hr
agree  Edith Kelly
6 hrs
neutral  B D Finch: I agree with magdadh. "Failed to" does imply that they should have sought leave, rather than simply stating the fact that they didn't.// You are making assumptions about the facts. Better to stick to the linguistic aspect: "failed to", not "did not".
12 hrs
  -> Seeking leave to do something, not an obligation. Thus, we can infer that they "could" have sought leave, but not that they "should" have done so. There are often good reasons to refrain from acting - eg: if the cost will outweigh the benefit.
agree  Tina Vonhof (X): They did not seek when they could/should have - it can be used in both situations but in this case it was not mandatory.
17 hrs
agree  acetran
1 day 21 hrs
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