Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
of .... of .... of ....
English answer:
Leave it as it is
Added to glossary by
zaphod
Mar 29, 2006 12:30
18 yrs ago
English term
Russian Federation
Accessible round the clock
Native in: Russian (Variant: Standard-Russia)
Works in: English to Russian, Russian to English
of .... of .... of ....
English
Law/Patents
Law (general)
The text I am editing is overloaded with preposition OF.
If I try to correct something I damage the document structure. Is it allowed in some cases in English to use two or three prepositions OF one by one, if it is difficult to rebuild a sentence. Should I correct this or may leave as it is.
1) ... On Limitation of Authority of the Company’s General Director.
2) As stated above, clause 2 of Article 50 of the Company’s Statutes contains an indication that First Deputies of the General Director act on behalf of the Company within limits of their competence.
3) paragraph 3 of clause 1 of Article 47 of the Company’s Statutes,
4) in the course of performance by the Company of its normal activities on condition that the amount of such transactions does not
5) not contain a condition of approval of transactions done on behalf of the Company in the course of performance by the Company of its normal activities if the amount of such transactions exceeds the amount equivalent to
And so on almost in each sentence.
If I try to correct something I damage the document structure. Is it allowed in some cases in English to use two or three prepositions OF one by one, if it is difficult to rebuild a sentence. Should I correct this or may leave as it is.
1) ... On Limitation of Authority of the Company’s General Director.
2) As stated above, clause 2 of Article 50 of the Company’s Statutes contains an indication that First Deputies of the General Director act on behalf of the Company within limits of their competence.
3) paragraph 3 of clause 1 of Article 47 of the Company’s Statutes,
4) in the course of performance by the Company of its normal activities on condition that the amount of such transactions does not
5) not contain a condition of approval of transactions done on behalf of the Company in the course of performance by the Company of its normal activities if the amount of such transactions exceeds the amount equivalent to
And so on almost in each sentence.
Responses
| 5 +12 | Leave it as it is |
zaphod
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| 5 +3 | senetnces are OK |
Lia Fail (X)
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Responses
+12
22 mins
Selected
Leave it as it is
As awkward, backward and offensive as it may sound. The prepositions are there for positioning.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Enza Longo
: although I find it neither awkward nor offensive and is quite common in legal texts that I've come across
12 mins
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Merci
|
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| agree |
Eckhard Boehle
: It's just normal (legal) English!
22 mins
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Merci
|
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| agree |
Jack Doughty
: Generally speaking, reduce the succession of "of" if you can, but if you can't, just plough on with it. E.g. you can't avoid it in a title like "Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics".
23 mins
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Agred, but it is legalese
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| agree |
Isodynamia
37 mins
|
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Thanks
|
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| agree |
William [Bill] Gray
43 mins
|
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Merci
|
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| agree |
Raging Dreamer
: Most are ok, but in some cases, of can be replaced with a comma or the word BY, though it is a tricky proposition. One would need professional one on one help to maintain clarity.
1 hr
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agreed, but in most legal texts the subject insists on precision... boring
|
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| agree |
Can Altinbay
: Yes, just leave them as is.
1 hr
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Exactamundo Thanks
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| agree |
MikeGarcia
1 hr
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Gracias
|
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| agree |
Kevin Kelly
: With Jack. In some legal texts it's difficult to avoid long strings of OF and the users are usually accustomed to seeing them.
2 hrs
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agreed
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| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
3 hrs
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Thanks
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| agree |
humbird
: I love Jack's example, and YES you should not try to modify them.
7 hrs
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Jack's a genius
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| agree |
Mikhail Kropotov
2 days 48 mins
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you very much to everybody. Lia's answer was also very helpful."
+3
33 mins
senetnces are OK
I don't see any problem with the OF use in the sentences above
To change them or reduce their number would lead to a lack of clarity in almost all the cases
These OF represent special situations.
As a former teacher, I had a lot of the rules, but I have forgotten them..:-(
But for example, in most of teh sentences above it's not about 'part of' nor is it about 'possession', which DOES make it possible sometimes to reorder and remove OF
the door of the house / ALT: the house door (part of)
the leg of the man / ALT: the man's leg (possession)
the First Deputies of the General Director (not possession, not part of)
ALT = ALTERNATIVE
To change them or reduce their number would lead to a lack of clarity in almost all the cases
These OF represent special situations.
As a former teacher, I had a lot of the rules, but I have forgotten them..:-(
But for example, in most of teh sentences above it's not about 'part of' nor is it about 'possession', which DOES make it possible sometimes to reorder and remove OF
the door of the house / ALT: the house door (part of)
the leg of the man / ALT: the man's leg (possession)
the First Deputies of the General Director (not possession, not part of)
ALT = ALTERNATIVE
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Enza Longo
: perfectly ok in my opinion as well
2 mins
|
| agree |
MikeGarcia
: Also OK.-
1 hr
|
| agree |
Mikhail Kropotov
2 days 38 mins
|
Discussion