was

[mengta]

He disclosed the problems to his firm, a decision he said was based more on his own moral code than anything else.

i dont understand why there's a "was" here in the first sentence.

thanks

[Teia]

He disclosed the problems to his firm, a decision he said was based more on his own moral code than anything else.

i dont understand why there's a "was" here in the first sentence.

thanks

Put the sentences in another order and you`ll understand the problem with "was" :


He disclosed the problems to his firm and he said that a/the decision was based on his own moral code than anything else.

..a decision was based on his own moral codes..." - the verb is in the passive voice

Or , :
1. He disclosed the problems to his firm, a decision --as he said --was based more on his own moral code than anything else.
2. He disclosed the ...., a decision that was based more on his own moral code than anything else, as he said.
decision - subject of the sentence
was based - verb in passive voice

You can avoid using "was" if you want:

He disclosed the problems to his firm, a decision based more on his own moral code than anything else, as he said.

I hope it helps .

[Humble]

Hello,
Something is jarring here. I’d change the sentence, either
a) He disclosed the problems to his firm, a decision, he said, based more on his own moral code than anything else.
I think commas are logically important here, though I am not good at English punctuation.
or
b)He disclosed the problems to his firm; the decision, he said, was based more on his own moral code than anything else.
Regards

[Teia]

Your example b looks and sounds very good to me, Humble.

As a matter of fact ,I believe that it is only a problem of punctuation in Mengta`s sentence. The semicolon is perfectly used here.
That is why mengta could not understand it. Very well, Humble!
Best wishes,

[Tdol]

You could also say 'a decision that was based'.