Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[river1974]

Dear teachers:

Please advise more about how and why such a recitation is sufficient to make one skilled in the art *to* practice accordingly.

If "to" is omitted, would the meaning be changed?

Thanks.

[bud]

No, you can't delete the "to." I believe that in this case the "to" is part of an infinitive, not a preposition. It's a very awkward sounding sentence, so maybe that's why you feel the change is needed.

[river1974]

Thanks bud. As you said, this sentence really sounds weird to me. I try to rewrite as follows:

(a) Please advise more about how and why such a recitation is sufficient for one skilled in the art to practice accordingly.
(b) Please advise more about how and why such a recitation is sufficient to enable one skilled in the art to practice accordingly.

Do they sound more smoothly?

[bud]

They are both smoother than the original, River.

a. Possibly the sense of "making one practice" has been lost, but I can't make up my mind. So maybe if you changed it to, "... skilled in the art to want to practice accordingly." But maybe not. Any other opinions out there?

b. The change of verb definitely helps with clarity, but I don't think "enable" is as strong as "make." Maybe instead: motivate, compel?

[river1974]

Thanks bud. You've made a very clear explanation. The original sentence was constructed by my boss to make my report clearer and more complete. What he tries to express is that when one skilled in the art has read the recitation, of his own will rather than being forced to do so, he would be able to practice accordingly. In this situation, maybe the verb "make" is not a good choice.

[bud]

That's funny, River. No offense intended, but I wish your boss would not try to edit your English. I suspect that he/she rarely improves it.

"Motivate" probably works well enough there.

PS: A few weeks ago, you said you might be interested in hearing Bob Dylan or John Prine. Today on a local radio station, John Prine is the featured artist. After the news at the top of each hour, they play two of his songs. So that's usually about 6 minutes after each hour. If you have the time, give him a listen. You can stream it from a link in the middle-left of the main page (WFUV: Listen Live): http://www.wfuv.org/

[river1974]

Thanks bud. I just used the software to download the John Prine Anthology - Great Days, but it might take some time to complete. Thanks for providing this website. I am now listening to it!

[bud]

Enjoy it, River! They play a lot of great songwriters on that station.