Often major economic shifts are so gradual as to be...

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron - I am still a little unclear how i would approach a similar sentence in the future. In terms of splits we have

so gradual vs. gradual enough

indistinguishable vs distinguished (depends on the rest of the sentence but is one correct or not)

so gradual as/so/that.....

can you walk through your approach? i too struggled with a vs. c.

thanks!!

arielle

hi arielle:

as i said upthread, i don't see anything ungrammatical about choice (c), so i don't think splitting is going to do you any good here.

the only difference i see between (a) and (c) is a somewhat substantial difference in wordiness / concision. (i.e., "unable to be distinguished" is 4 words that mean the exact same thing as the 1 word "indistinguishable")

[aps_asks]

Hi Ron ,

Why is choice B) inferior compared to Choice A)

[tim]

because B is wrong. B says "so gradual so that..."; you can't do that. instead you should say "so gradual that..."

[Suapplle]

i also find something a bit awkward about the use of "unable" to describe something that's not actually an inability of the subject.

here's what i mean:

this plant is unable to perform photosynthesis.
legitimate, because this actually describes an inability of the plant itself.

this sentence:
they (= major economic shifts) are unable to be distinguished...
i don't like this, because we're not actually talking about an "inability" possessed by the economic shifts themselves.
if we'd said something like "economic shifts are unable to destroy your equity", then i'd find that more appealing.

this is all completely off the top of my head.

Hi,Ron,sorry to bump up the old thread.
Should The subject of "can" and "be able to" be animate?please certify,thanks!

[RonPurewal]

Should The subject of "can" and "be able to" be animate?please certify,thanks!

I'm not totally sure what you mean by "animate" here. Sounds to me like 'person or animal', but that's just a guess.

In any case, not necessarily, because it's possible for an inanimate object to have capabilities. (This bullet is able to pierce Kevlar. Because the snow reflects incoming sunlight, the Siberian landscape is unable to retain much heat. Etc.)

The question you should really ask yourself is, "Are we talking about something that X can do?"
If the answer to this question is yes -- regardless of whether X is a person or an animal -- then "(un)able" / "(in)ability" should be fine.

If you're talking about something that someone can do to or with X, then you shouldn't use those words.
That's definitely the case here -- we're talking about whether people can distinguish the shifts, not about what the shifts themselves can do.

[douyang]

Hi Ron, the OG explanation of #39 regards "so x as to y" incorrect. What does "so x as to y" really mean? and what should we do when we see "so x as to y"?

[RonPurewal]

"so (adj/adv) as to (verb)" is a perfectly legitimate construction. if there's a problem, the problem will lie elsewhere.

in that choice, the main problem is that the tense doesn't make sense.

here are sentences in which the tenses DO make sense:
Raul starts his day so early as to arrive at work before the sun even comes up. <--> Raul arrives at work before the sun even comes up.

Every day last week, I ate so much as to deplete the entire buffet. <--> I depleted the entire buffet.

you get the picture-- if you say "xxxxxxx so (adj) as to (verb)", then the (verb) should make sense in the same tense as "xxxxxx".

that's where that answer choice falls short, because it makes no sense to say "it becomes ...." in the present tense there.

[YingC357]

Dear Ron
in this thread you said "the only major difference that i can posit between "can" and "has/have the ability..." is that the latter is generally used only for humans or other living animals, while "can" can be used either for humans/animals or for inanimate objects." (now-that-so-much-data-travels-via-light-t8921.html)

Are they different animals? In short, I conclude that "has/have the ability is generally used only for humans or other living animals" and that "be able to can be used either for humans/animals or for inanimate objects."

Please correct me. Thank you in advance!!

Should The subject of "can" and "be able to" be animate?please certify,thanks!

I'm not 100% sure what "animate" means. Sounds to me like "person or animal", but that's just a guess.

In any case, not necessarily, because it's possible for an inanimate object to have capabilities. (This bullet is able to pierce Kevlar. Because the snow reflects incoming sunlight, the Siberian landscape is unable to retain much heat. Etc.)

The question you should really ask yourself is, "Are we talking about something that X can do?"
If the answer to this question is yes -- regardless of whether X is a person or an animal -- then "(un)able" / "(in)ability" should be fine.

If you're talking about something that someone can do to or with X, then you shouldn't use those words.
That's definitely the case here -- we're talking about whether people can distinguish the shifts, not about what the shifts themselves can do.

[RonPurewal]

i'd say that's accurate.

[YingC357]

Ron~~Thank you so so so much!!

Have a nice day. ( It's already midnight here in Taiwan )

i'd say that's accurate.

[RonPurewal]

no problem. and you too.

[PrakharS433]

Hi Ron,

Can you please tell when to use these constructions-
1) so....as...
2) so...that...

Please assist.

Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar

[RonPurewal]

Hi Ron,

Can you please tell when to use these constructions-
1) so....as...
2) so...that...

Please assist.

Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar

those are both legitimate constructions.

the use of "so [adj/adverb] as to [verb]" is explained in this thread.

"so [adj/adverb] that [complete sentence]" has the same sort of meaning, except "that" is followed by a complete sentence rather than just a verb.

[RonPurewal]

in general, "so [adj/adverb] that [complete sentence]" is used when "[complete sentence]" has a DIFFERENT SUBJECT than the original sentence.
e.g., When I came back from vacation, I was so tan that my friends didn't even recognize me.
(subject changes from "i" to "my friends")

if the subject is still the same, then "so [adj] as to [verb]" is a more efficient way to write the construction.

.

[PrakharS433]

i also find something a bit awkward about the use of "unable" to describe something that's not actually an inability of the subject.

here's what i mean:

this plant is unable to perform photosynthesis.
legitimate, because this actually describes an inability of the plant itself.

this sentence:
they (= major economic shifts) are unable to be distinguished...
i don't like this, because we're not actually talking about an "inability" possessed by the economic shifts themselves.
if we'd said something like "economic shifts are unable to destroy your equity", then i'd find that more appealing.

this is all completely off the top of my head.

Hi Ron,

Somehow I am able to comprehend your reasoning behind the usage of "unable" but it seems like this reasoning can only be shared by NATIVE speaker.

I don't think any non native speaker would able to eliminate option C on the basis of it

BTW thanks for getting into more detail of word "UNABLE".... I will remember it now

So, for non native speakers, can I say we are eliminating option C because its wordy..??

Please assist.

Thanks and Regards,
Prakhar