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Thread: in approximately this two decades' time?

  1. #1
    Csika is offline Member
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    Default in approximately this two decades' time?

    Dear Forum Users,

    I have highlighted a proble matic part in this paragraph -- not sure that it is correct. Could anyone please give a solution?

    "To offer a usable compilation of the incredible history and the diversity of the theories that emerged in the 1980s and 90s is an impossible task. I thus limit my scope to the most definitive accounts. But, since a great number of scholars have published important works in approximately this two decades’ time, even such a narrowing does not make full coverage possible."

    Thank you.

    Csika

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    Default Re: in approximately this two decades' time?

    Quote Originally Posted by Csika View Post
    Dear Forum Users,

    I have highlighted a proble matic part in this paragraph -- not sure that it is correct. Could anyone please give a solution?

    "To offer a usable compilation of the incredible history and the diversity of the theories that emerged in the 1980s and 90s is an impossible task. I thus limit my scope to the most definitive accounts. But, since a great number of scholars have published important works in approximately this two decades’ time, even such a narrowing does not make full coverage possible."

    Thank you.

    Csika

    It means this period of two decades (80s & 90s). Try reading it as if it were hyphenated: this two-decades' time.

    Hedwig
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    Csika is offline Member
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    Threadstarter / Original Poster

    Default Re: in approximately this two decades' time?

    So is the highlighted part grammatically correct in the original post?

    Csika

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    Default Re: in approximately this two decades' time?

    Is the original your writing?

    If you are talking about the 1980s and the 1990s, it *IS* two decades, not approximately two decades.

    But, since a great number of scholars have published important works in approximately this those two decades’ time,
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    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

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    Csika is offline Member
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    Default Re: in approximately this two decades' time?

    Hi Barb_D,

    Yes, the original is my writing.

    Anyway, 'these' or, as you said, "those" two decades?

    Thanks for your help.

    Csika
    Last edited by Csika; 20-Jul-2011 at 14:38.

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    Default Re: in approximately this two decades' time?

    You could use either these or those in this case. Those because they were a while ago, but these because you're pracitically holding them in your hand as you talk about them.
    Csika likes this.
    I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.

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