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THE rather than A leader

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He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

subsequently channeled his reformist fervor as a leader of the Indian

independence movement.

 

Is this sentence OK as it is? Or should it be as follows?

 

He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

subsequently channeled his reformist fervor into leading the Indian

independence movement.

 

The second version to me suggests that he was THE rather than A leader,

which is incorrect.

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At 08:59 PM 12/14/2006 -0500, Bhakti Vikasa Swami wrote:

 

>He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

>subsequently channeled his reformist fervor as a leader of the Indian

>independence movement.

>

>Is this sentence OK as it is? Or should it be as follows?

>

>He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

>subsequently channeled his reformist fervor into leading the Indian

>independence movement.

>

>The second version to me suggests that he was THE rather than A leader,

>which is incorrect.

 

right.

 

He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

subsequently channeled his reformist fervor into taking a leading role in

the Indian independence movement.

 

Your servant,

Dravida dasa

 

>--

>

>

>Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release

>12/13/2006 6:13 PM

>

>

>

>

>--

>

>

>Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release

>12/13/2006 6:13 PM

 

 

--

 

 

Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.20/588 - Release 12/15/2006

10:02 AM

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Dear Maharaja, pundits, and prabhus,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Full and easy agreement about "a" over "the," but a few questions & points:

 

I don't find "as the" or "as a" quite clear. The phrasing and structure

makes it sound as if it is the fervor rather than he who became a leader--or

even further, that he is sort of convincing his fervor into taking the

leading role.

 

Maybe something like:

 

"He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati but

subsequently channeled his reformist fervor when he took a leading role

[became a leader] in the Indian independence movement."

 

Or if you want to focus more on the channeling and fervor, end with those--

something like "He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati

but subsequently, as a leader of the Indian independence movement, was able

to [found a way to] channel his reformist fervor.

 

The comma after "Sarasvati" does help in showing the contrast, but if the

focus is more on the subsequent channeling, it might not be needed in that

sense. It is not required grammatically, and some readers/editors would

question its use in this structure.

 

Finally, and this is probably nit-picking even *more* unecessarily, and

might lead to a prose that is less elegant, putting "more" right before "to

hear" echoes the sense of "more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati" [than to . . .

]. I realize that without a comma before it, the phrase cannot (or at least

*should* not) be read like this, but "more to x than to y" is such a common

expression that one might want to avoid joining the words when that is not

the meaning, in order to keep the flow of reading without hesitation. It

could also (again, less elegantly) be written, "He came two or three more

times . . ."

 

Please correct my misunderstanding of the rules and/or sentence's meaning,

and please forgive my obsessive tendencies and especially my offenses.

 

Thank you.

 

Hare Krsna.

 

Your servant,

Bhakta Carl

 

 

 

> >He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

> >subsequently channeled his reformist fervor as a leader of the Indian

> >independence movement.

> >

> >Is this sentence OK as it is? Or should it be as follows?

> >

> >He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

> >subsequently channeled his reformist fervor into leading the Indian

> >independence movement.

> >

> >The second version to me suggests that he was THE rather than A leader,

> >which is incorrect.

>

> right.

>

> He came two or three times more to hear Siddhanta Sarasvati, but

> subsequently channeled his reformist fervor into taking a leading role in

> the Indian independence movement.

>

> Your servant,

> Dravida dasa

>

> >--

> >

> >

> >Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:

> >12/13/2006 6:13 PM

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >--

> >

> >

> >Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.18/586 - Release Date:

> >12/13/2006 6:13 PM

>

>

> --

>

>

> Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.15.20/588 - Release Date:

> 12/15/2006 10:02 AM

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