is this proper English?

Discussion in 'Copywriting' started by grobar, Aug 4, 2006.

  1. #1
    not sure if this is appropriate for this forum for this - please let me know if not, and accept my apology.

    Is this a well-formed sentence:

    "We do not feel that their value is significant in helping you achieve your link building campaign goals, and thus, do not offer support for these links in the Beta Release."
     
    grobar, Aug 4, 2006 IP
  2. TatiAnA

    TatiAnA Active Member

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    #2
    Makes sense to me.
     
    TatiAnA, Aug 4, 2006 IP
  3. shamess

    shamess Well-Known Member

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    #3
    Me too ^^;;
     
    shamess, Aug 4, 2006 IP
  4. ramakrishna p

    ramakrishna p Notable Member

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    #4
    Hope it is a well - formed sentence hence making a sense.
     
    ramakrishna p, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  5. glennhefley

    glennhefley Peon

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    #5
    The sentence is grammatically correct, and there's nothing wrong with it as far as proper English rules, however I don't believe it puts across the message you are striving for.

    It sounds like you are trying to answer a client's question, or perhaps this is part of an FAQ regarding your product. What you are communicating is that your product doesn't support a type of hyperlink which a client wishes to use, and you are basing the reason you don't support this type of hyperlink on your belief of what works and what doesn't.

    This is rarely a good idea. Your belief may or may not be correct, but that hardly matters.

    The tone can be construed as adversarial, or hint at the idea that if your company decides it doesn't believe something, the client will not get support for it. Not good sales copy, or client relations.

    I would take that part out, and simply state that in the current version, these types of links are not supported. Leave the statement open ended.

    Communication is what is heard, not what is said.

    Glenn Hefley
     
    glennhefley, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  6. marketjunction

    marketjunction Well-Known Member

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    #6
    I agree that the sentence needs to be reworked.
     
    marketjunction, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  7. Lpspider

    Lpspider Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Yes, nothing wrong with the sentence, but it might come across as "to proffesional" so to speak.
     
    Lpspider, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  8. Neptune

    Neptune Well-Known Member

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    #8
    I think I disagree on the sentence. It is a run on sentence that should be made into more than one sentence. I am not trying to be mean or a jerk, but you asked.
     
    Neptune, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  9. JC007

    JC007 Active Member

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    #9
    Looks good to me too
     
    JC007, Aug 5, 2006 IP
  10. mustafa9190

    mustafa9190 Peon

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    #10
    look there is nothing wrong with it your trying to make your own message
     
    mustafa9190, May 8, 2007 IP
  11. shuttle

    shuttle Active Member

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    #11
    it makes sense. It could be rearranged, though. For example, it could be divided in two. Depends how you want to convey the meaning.
     
    shuttle, May 8, 2007 IP
  12. southwark

    southwark Member

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    #12
    That's horrible. So far as I am concerned any sentence that needs to
    be read more than once to understand is not working as a sentence
    regardless of whether it conforms to the rules.

    I don't know what 'their' is referring to. 'We do not feel that...' why 'feel'?
    Why does it refer to a feeling rather than a mental process such as 'belief'?
    'We do not believe' would make more sense. And 'link building campaign goals'
    is a ghastly noun phrase; I'd shorten it.

    Furthermore it is far too long and requires either a semi colon or else it
    should be broken into two.

    So:

    "We do not BELIEVE that their value is significant in helping you achieve your (link building campaign) goals; therefore, we do not offer support for these links in the Beta Release."

    Or:

    "We do not BELIEVE that their value is significant in helping you achieve your (link building campaign) goals. Consequently, we do not offer support for these links in the Beta Release."

    If you tell me what 'their' refers to I could hone it further. I put part of the
    noun phrase in brackets to indicate that I don't think that part of it is
    necessary; it might be better just to refer to 'goals'.

    Phil
     
    southwark, May 11, 2007 IP
  13. Deano

    Deano Sail away with me.

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    #13
    Maybe send an email to the guys and gals at the Plain English Campaign. That's what they are there for (I think :)

    Personally I'd go for something like.
    As we feel that ?? adds little value to a link building campaign, it is not supported (we do not support it) in the beta release.
     
    Deano, May 11, 2007 IP
  14. Jackuul

    Jackuul Well-Known Member

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    #14
    Wow, this was an old dead thread. You must be a skilled necromancer to have pulled this off.
     
    Jackuul, May 11, 2007 IP
    Briant likes this.
  15. Vesica

    Vesica Banned

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    #15
    Official English, as in British English rarely uses commas, the use of a comma only comes in place if the comma must be placed or else it would become a weird sentence. American English on the other hand uses a lot of commas in a sentence.

    And yes, it's a pretty old thread.
     
    Vesica, May 11, 2007 IP
  16. pstone

    pstone Peon

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    #16
    This is beginning to sound like a linguistics lecture.
     
    pstone, May 17, 2007 IP