Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hanygeorge38]

Dear Bud,

I was reading a book about psychology concerning the subject of
Suggestion and I have one question about the use of ( for and in)
In the following text taken from that book which in my view I think
That the author should have used in instead of for

Could you clarify this to me or I maybe mistaken

(Suggestion for its effect depend upon the strength of its appeal to
The emotions)


Many thanks
_________________
hany

[bud]

Hi Hany,

Hmm... that's a little tough to know for sure. I'll comment on how I think the sentence could be punctuated: Suggestion, for its effect, depends upon the strength of its appeal to The emotions.

If that's how the author intended it, then "for" is the correct preposition. Think of it as, "Suggestion, in order for it to have an effect, depends upon..." The use of "for" makes it conditional.

To my ear, the use of "in" in the original would say that suggestion does (necessarily) have an effect. So when the rest of the sentence talks about a condition for its effectiveness - the entire sentence becomes illogical.

Hope that's clear enough and helps.[/b]