Korean Job Discussion Forums

[daskalos]

I hope this post in the correct forum -- this doesn't specifically concern working in Korea, but it's about language, so ...

I'm copy editing an article for a friend. He starts out, "Many people do not have a broad understanding of blah blah blah," which I know is awkward, at least, and perhaps (??) ungrammatical. I want to advise him to go with either "Many people lack a broad understanding of blah blah blah" or "Few people have a broad understanding of blah blah blah," but I don't know what to tell him about why he needs to do this.

Can anyone explain to me what the issue is with "many people" followed by "do not have"?

[Qinella]

Let's look at some other examples.

Many people do not have health insurance.

Many people do not have a bicycle.

Many people do not have an appreciation for art.

Many people do not have a DVD player.

Many people do not have an addiction to nicotene.


I think it's okay.

[Hater Depot]

The first sentence is grammatically correct, but your suggestions do sound much better.

[ChopChaeJoe]

I don't think it sounds bad. I would choose, Many people lack a broad understanding of blah blah blah.