Oct 25, 2004 16:41
19 yrs ago
English term
adda
the
Non-PRO
English
Medical
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting
I always got problems with article The since the first day I studied English. Is the following sentence OK? Please also explain why.
5. In the equipment cleaning area, the employees responsible for cleaning job should wear shoes.
5. In the equipment cleaning area, the employees responsible for cleaning job should wear shoes.
Responses
Responses
+4
49 mins
Selected
In the equipment cleaning area, all employees responsible for cleaning must wear proper shoes
I disagree with just about everyone but Rita Heller (and not for the first time).
Definitely "the cleaning room", but definitely not "the employees" - sounds quite wrong to me (though I would be hard put to quote a specific grammatical rule for that).
Rita's suggestion "all employees" gets round that problem neatly, and is also more likely in a manual of company procedures. But I would say "must wear (proper) shoes" because "should wear shoes" is just too vague and weak and general. These days, Health and Safety issues are very important, so I think no company would take the risk of saying employees "should" do sometehing. That makes it optional and actionable. What happens if an employee does not wear shoes and gets foot damage? Much safer to say "must wear shoes".
Definitely "the cleaning room", but definitely not "the employees" - sounds quite wrong to me (though I would be hard put to quote a specific grammatical rule for that).
Rita's suggestion "all employees" gets round that problem neatly, and is also more likely in a manual of company procedures. But I would say "must wear (proper) shoes" because "should wear shoes" is just too vague and weak and general. These days, Health and Safety issues are very important, so I think no company would take the risk of saying employees "should" do sometehing. That makes it optional and actionable. What happens if an employee does not wear shoes and gets foot damage? Much safer to say "must wear shoes".
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Graded automatically based on peer agreement."
+4
4 mins
Konstantin Kisin
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
United Kingdom
Bilingual Finance, Law & Business Pro
Native in: English 
, Russian
Works in: Russian to English, English, English to Russian
I would say:
The employees responsible for cleaning, should (must?) wear shoes in the equipment cleaning area at all times.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
María Teresa Taylor Oliver
: Yep, I think "cleaning" is enough (no use for "job"). But I don't think there should be a comma after "cleaning".
6 mins
|
|
thanks, yep no comma
|
|
| agree |
jccantrell
: yep, NO comma. I would also go for MUST.
7 mins
|
|
yeah, must sounds more like it in the context, thanks
|
|
| agree |
Eckhard Boehle
: this sentence sounds right
4 hrs
|
|
thanks
|
|
| agree |
Asghar Bhatti
9 hrs
|
|
thanks
|
4 mins
correct
the equipment cleaning area- "the" because it's probably the only one in the biulding
the employes - tou have descriptive phrase after that "responsible for cleaning job" and it always requires "the"
the employes - tou have descriptive phrase after that "responsible for cleaning job" and it always requires "the"
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kirill Semenov
5 mins
|
|
thank you :)
|
|
| agree |
Olga B
1 hr
|
|
thank you :)
|
|
| neutral |
Eckhard Boehle
: but "responsible for cleaning job" is not proper English!
4 hrs
|
|
the question was about articles , right?
|
|
| disagree |
Mapi
: no, it is not correct
4 hrs
|
|
you cant say its incorrect and not offer any explanation.
|
|
| disagree |
Cilian O'Tuama
: should be either 'resp. for cleaning' or 'resp. for the cleaning job' - that 's probably what the others mean too
5 hrs
|
+1
21 mins
last part after "responsible for" is incorrect
employees responsible for cleaning should wear shoes
"employees responsible for" should be followed by a task (sweeping the floor, cleaning the equipment); not, responsible for job. Use either responsible or job, not both
All employees responsible for the care, custody, and safety of youth
in county and state juvenile custody facilities.
www.leg.wa.gov/WAC/ index.cfm?section=139-10-210&fuseaction=section - 22k
U.S. usage
"employees responsible for" should be followed by a task (sweeping the floor, cleaning the equipment); not, responsible for job. Use either responsible or job, not both
All employees responsible for the care, custody, and safety of youth
in county and state juvenile custody facilities.
www.leg.wa.gov/WAC/ index.cfm?section=139-10-210&fuseaction=section - 22k
U.S. usage
+1
12 mins
Roddy Stegemann
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
Search HKLNA!
Native in: English
Works in: German to English, Japanese to English, French to English, and 3 more.
correct usage
Your use of the article "the" is correct, but your use of singular and plural appears problematic.
Obviously there are many cleaning jobs to be performed, and the author is establishing a general set of rules or guidelines for all of them. Thus, the word "job" should be made plural. Jobs are countable, and the word "job" is a poor substitute for the word "work" in this context.
As the employees, who perform the cleaning are different from others, they are well defined. This is the reason the article "the" is required. The definition is achieved in the adjectival phrase "responsible for cleaning job[s]".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 45 mins (2004-10-25 22:27:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Note to Rita: There is nothing wrong with the phrase \"responsible for cleaning jobs\". The term responsible can refer both to those who actually carry out the cleaning jobs, as well as those who make sure that those jobs are carried out by those who actually perform them. Each of us is responsible for what he does, whether he is a manager or a worker, and obviously there are those who responsible for cleaning and all of the jobs associated therewith. This is good international use of the English language, and it is especially prevalent in the US.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 46 mins (2004-10-25 22:28:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: My full use of this and other forums has been restricted for reasons unknown, so please forgive my lack of direct support for answers offered by other contributors and critical assessment of non-contributors who are misleading and/or abusive.
Obviously there are many cleaning jobs to be performed, and the author is establishing a general set of rules or guidelines for all of them. Thus, the word "job" should be made plural. Jobs are countable, and the word "job" is a poor substitute for the word "work" in this context.
As the employees, who perform the cleaning are different from others, they are well defined. This is the reason the article "the" is required. The definition is achieved in the adjectival phrase "responsible for cleaning job[s]".
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 45 mins (2004-10-25 22:27:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Note to Rita: There is nothing wrong with the phrase \"responsible for cleaning jobs\". The term responsible can refer both to those who actually carry out the cleaning jobs, as well as those who make sure that those jobs are carried out by those who actually perform them. Each of us is responsible for what he does, whether he is a manager or a worker, and obviously there are those who responsible for cleaning and all of the jobs associated therewith. This is good international use of the English language, and it is especially prevalent in the US.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs 46 mins (2004-10-25 22:28:11 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer: My full use of this and other forums has been restricted for reasons unknown, so please forgive my lack of direct support for answers offered by other contributors and critical assessment of non-contributors who are misleading and/or abusive.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Olga B
1 hr
|
|
Thanks Olga.
|
|
| neutral |
Mapi
: your explanation is confusing, are you saying the sentence is correct or proposing a new correct usage?
5 hrs
|
|
The question is about the usage of the word "the". I have provided a clear explanation as to why I believe it is correct. I do not understand your confusion.
|
Something went wrong...