Pronoun reference & Paraphrasing

comsci

comsci

Senior Member
Taiwan, Vancouver(B.C.) and the Rockies
Mandarin, Taiwan(Yankees 40 Wang)
A. The meeting between Bowmand and Sonny makes Bowman compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.

B. Meeting Sonny makes Bowman compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.

C. After meeting Sonny, whose domestic life is emotionally secure and involved, Bowman finds his own domestic life unsatisfying.

Do all the above sound equally natural to you native speakers? It's from a test drill and IMHO all of the three sound alright to me. If you were to pick ONE, which one would it be being the most natural-sounding? Comments are welcome. :D
 
    • Thanks "R"sweet for your contribution. IMHO they are all good sentences, are they not? It's hard to nitpick in this case and that's why I need a hand from you native speakers. Any nuances in meanings you've found?
     
    comsci said:
    A. The meeting between Bowmand and Sonny makes leads Bowman to compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.

    B. Meeting Sonny makes leads Bowman to compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.

    C. After meeting Sonny, whose domestic life is emotionally secure and involved, Bowman finds his own domestic life unsatisfying.

    Do all the above sound equally natural to you native speakers? It's from a test drill and IMHO all of the three sound alright to me. If you were to pick ONE, which one would it be being the most natural-sounding? Comments are welcome. :D
    Click to expand...

    I think "leads ... to", as above, sounds more natural (in AE, at least) than "makes".

    Also, even with "leads to", the sentences don't have the same meaning. The first two could mean that Bowman already knew that his life was unsatisfying, and the meeting led him to think about that unhappy fact again. The third implies that the meeting itself led to Bowman's recognition that his domestic life was unsatisfying. If that is the intent of the first two sentences as well, they need additional modification. For example, you could work on language with the general form, "makes Bowman realize that", rather than "makes Bowman compare".

    That also would suggest that the third sentence is the best way to say it. (I think the third sounds more natural, too, but that's just my opinion.)
     
    comsci said:
    Thanks "R"sweet for your contribution. IMHO they are all good sentences, are they not? It's hard to nitpick in this case and that's why I need a hand from you native speakers. Any nuances in meanings you've found?
    Click to expand...

    I chose "B" strictly on its easier flow.
     
    I agree that C. sounds most natural and clear in meaning to me. Thank you Old Novice. :)

    PS: "makes someone realize that" has a slightly different meaning from "makes someone compare" though.

    I'm not too sure of the intent of the author but I value your comments.
     
    Old Novice said:
    Originally Posted by comsci
    A. The meeting between Bowmand and Sonny makes leads Bowman to compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.
    B. Meeting Sonny makes leads Bowman to compare his own unsatisfying domestic life with one that is emotionally secure and involved.
    I think "leads ... to", as above, sounds more natural (in AE, at least) than "makes".
    Click to expand...

    As another speaker of AE I find exactly the oppostite: the sentences using 'make' sound much more natural to me than using 'lead to'! (I don't like the "to" and "with" together and partially, 'lead to' gives the sentence a different meaning.)

    In sentence "A" 'The meeting ... makes Bowman compare' (i.e. forces him to compare) which suggests the emotional and intellectual process of the comparison transpiring between Bowman and Sonny during the meeting (the topic of conversation could have been anything). This could evoke more empathy for B. from the reader, were it in a novel. The lengthier slower sentence construction could be seen as suitable. In this version of the sentence Sonny is domestically happy, B. is not. (Substituting 'leads to' in this sentence would give us a different idea of the meeting altogether- the meeting could have been explicitly for the purpose of bringing about a realization. Sonny could be Bowman's psychiatrist.)

    To me "B" was by far "the most natural-sounding" on first reading. In this sentence 'Meeting Sonny makes Bowman compare'. The sheer fact that Bowman ran into Sonny set off a comparison. It is much more sudden.

    In sentence "C" 'After meeting Sonny, Bowman finds'. As Old Novice says, this has a different meaning to those in A & B. It is a factually very clear sentence with a narrative delivery. It is not poetic.

    So, really, it all depends on what you intend to say and what purpose you want to serve in saying it. However, since the posting topic is "pronoun reference and paraphrasing" I suspect the answer being looked for by the teacher is "c".

    As a P.S.: If you want a 'natural-sounding' sentence give the guys some different names;) !
     
    I agree with Passerby that if the intent is to say that the meeting forces Bowman to compare, the original wording is better. In this case, I'd say the language in the first two is fine as originally written and the third sentence is just intended to convey a different shade of meaning.

    BTW, I hope my earlier suggestions were not taken in the wrong way. :eek: All three of these sentences, whatever the precise intent of the first two, are vastly better than I personally could construct in the language I'm attempting to learn.
     
    All three are natural, just different styles of writing.
    C has the difference in meaning already noted.
    I like B; it sounds like the caption for a Far Side cartoon.
     
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