Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Junkomama]

Hello, teachers!

Which one of the following sentences is correct?

1. I saw a young man who was occupying the priority seat while an elderly woman was standing in front of him.

2. I saw a young man who was occupying a priority seat while an elderly woman was standing in front of him.

Thank you in advance!

Junkomama

[Lorikeet]

[Junkomama]

Hello, Lorikeet-san.
Thank you for your quick response!!

Please let me ask one more question.
In the following case, which sentence is appropriate?

1. We often see young people occupying priority seats ignoring an elderly person standing in front of them.

2. We often see young people occupying priority seats ignoring the elderly person standing in front of them.

Junkomama

[Lorikeet]

[Junkomama]

Hello, Lorikeet-san.
Thank you again for your comment!!
That's a great help for me.

And I expect someone to give me further explanations.

With regards,
Junkomama

[Schweppes]

Hi,

I just wanted to say that I think it would be best to maintain consistency within the sentence. I would write it like this:

We often see young people occupying priority seats, ignoring the elderly people standing in from of them.

or, to describe a more specific situation:

We often see a young person occupying a priority seat, ignoring the elderly person standing in front of him(or her).

...if you want to avoid specifying the gender:

We often see a young person occupying a priority seat, ignoring the elderly person standing close by.

These sound a little better to me but I am, by no means, a professional in these matters. Anyway, I hope that helps a little.
_________________
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.--Albert Einstein

[Junkomama]

Thank you for your comments, Schweppes-san!!
They helped me a lot!!

Regards,
Junkomama

[Schweppes]

I met a Japanese girl named Junko once. Is it a comman Japanese name?
_________________
As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality.--Albert Einstein