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It's the little things that show (or shows)?
fit as fiddle
Dec 15, 2019 17:17
4 yrs ago
2 viewers *
English term

grammar issue

Non-PRO English Art/Literary Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. general sense�
We even hear of children dying before their desperately needed equipment reaches them. We believe that disabled and terminally ill children having the right equipment at the right time it not too much to ask.

Is the phrase composed correct?

What a sense makes it?
Responses
4 +6 almost
4 +1 should not be too much
4 it IS not too much to ask
Change log

Dec 15, 2019 17:19: Alexander Grabowski changed "Language pair" from "Russian to English" to "English"

Dec 15, 2019 19:02: philgoddard changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

Non-PRO (3): Yvonne Gallagher, Sheila Wilson, philgoddard

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Discussion

Yvonne Gallagher Dec 16, 2019:
@ Asker Agree with Amel. No need for a long discussion. The original sentence has a simple typo where IT should be IS. The rewording by Liz is also OK and keeps the same meaning. Note that US English often uses the gerund like this (far more than UK English does). Personally I don't like it that much but there is nothing grammatically wrong with the sentence when the typo is corrected.
Arabic & More Dec 16, 2019:
Do not get confused by the long discussion. "It" is merely a typo that should be changed to "is."

We believe that disabled and terminally ill children having the right equipment at the right time IS not too much to ask.
Daryo Dec 16, 2019:
Another aspect ... maybe more important.

Put the important parts where it's most visible.

if you start the sentence with "we believe ..." it sounds like "our beliefs" are more important that these children. What about this:

"Disabled and terminally ill children having the right equipment at the right time - that shouldn't be too much to ask?"
or
"Having the right equipment at the right time for disabled and terminally ill children - ..."

Also

"We even hear of children dying before their desperately needed equipment reaches them"

"their" makes no sense to me - these children do not own this equipment, nor it is for their exclusive use - it's also for all those who might need this equipment in the future.

"... children dying before the equipment they desperately need reaches them" ?
Lara Barnett Dec 15, 2019:
@ Tony I agree with your "hypothetical" comment. I have changed my wording to "suggestive", I perhaps expressed myself incorrectly.
Tony M Dec 15, 2019:
@ Asker I agree with Liz's suggested improvements, and Frank's observation that your original takes sounds clunky and not the way it would be expressed idiomatically by a native-speaker.
Lara Barnett Dec 15, 2019:
@ Frank I have posted this as an answer. "Is" is not correct here IMO.
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D. Dec 15, 2019:
@Lara: Music to my ears.
Lara Barnett Dec 15, 2019:
"Is" could be "should" here.... But I would say,
"We believe that it should not be too much to ask for terminally ill children to receive the right equipment at the time it is needed".
Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D. Dec 15, 2019:
@Liz Askew: Your answer is the most stylistically and grammatically correct. The original is awkward and stilted and grammatically barely hangs together, if at all. Here, the subject of the sentence is the gerund "having" and the verb is "is."
liz askew Dec 15, 2019:
sorry, I read it as "is" not "it"..
liz askew Dec 15, 2019:
Yes, it is correct.

It is not too much to ask that disabled and terminally ill children have the right equipment at the right time.

Responses

+6
4 mins
Selected

almost

should be "is" not much to ask, not "if"
Peer comment(s):
agree philgoddard : Although it doesn't say "if" :-)
2 mins
thanks; it was obviously a typo
agree Vladyslav Golovaty
11 mins
thanks
agree Yvonne Gallagher : a typo.
24 mins
thanks
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
27 mins
thanks
agree Ali Sharifi
30 mins
thanks
agree Polangmar
33 mins
thanks
disagree Lara Barnett : Should be "should", because the idea is more suggestive than this answer suggests.
1 hr
agree Tony M : I don't agree that the premise of this sentence is hypothetical, and to make it so changes the whole tenor; in that case, it would be better "It ought not to be too much to ask..." (implying perhaps that this in fact seems to be the case!)
1 hr
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Дякую, Вадиме!"
22 mins

it IS not too much to ask

a verb is missing: 'it not too much to ask' should be 'it IS not too much to ask'
Peer comment(s):
disagree Yvonne Gallagher : it's a typo: IT should be IS ("it" should NOT be in sentence)
7 mins
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
8 mins
agree Ali Sharifi
12 mins
disagree philgoddard : There's no verb missing. They've just written "it" instead of "is" - you can't say "having the right equipment it is too much to ask".
1 hr
Something went wrong...
+1
57 mins

should not be too much

But I would say,
"We believe that it SHOULD not be too much to ask for terminally ill children to receive the right equipment at the time it is needed".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 58 mins (2019-12-15 18:16:29 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"Should not be", not "Is not..."

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 1 hr (2019-12-15 18:17:58 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"No one is asking for them to be paid an extravagant salary, merely a salary that enables them to live decently. That SHOULD NOT BE too much to ask in 21st-century Britain, but it appears that it is too much to ask from this Government."
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2017-12-04/debates/B20...

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 9 hrs (2019-12-16 02:48:50 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

"IT SHOULDN'T BE TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR Michigan residents to want competent care from the medical professionals who treat them."
https://www.cmtjustice.com/blog/
Example sentence:

"It SHOULD NOT BE TOO MUCH TO ASK for more inclusive methods of means-testing, given that we already have subsidies that do not require any means testing whatsoever."

"When crossing facilities are provided for people walking, then it SHOULD NOT BE TOO MUCH TO ASK for them to be effective."

Reference:

http://www.aware.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2016-Budget-Recommendations_26Feb2016_AWARE.pdf

http://www.urbanmovement.co.uk/uploads/1/4/1/9/14194615/bee_a_champion_2019_web.pdf

Peer comment(s):
agree Frank Szmulowicz, Ph. D.
52 mins
Thank you
agree Tina Vonhof (X) : Yes, the whole sentence needed rewording.
2 hrs
Thank you.
disagree Yvonne Gallagher : this doesn't mean the same as original sentence//Disagreeing quite simply because it's wrong! Unlike the other right answer where YOU are the only person disagreeing//I see 2 others disagreeing with your answer...
16 hrs
Yes it does if you read the context, unless of course you just like to go around disagreeing with all my proz suggestions for some strange reason.// You mean in the way that YOU are the only person disagreeing with my answer?// I don't.
neutral B D Finch : That alters the sentence to make it rhetorical, rather than statement of fact. So, your change weakens the statement.
17 hrs
Something went wrong...
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