proofreading

[peter123]

Hi there,

Please proofread the following sentences.

1. John is having the same dream as does Mary. They both want to be CEO in the future.

2. The plastic bag is one of the polluters. A plastic bag is one of the polluters.

3. John likes to abuse drugs when he is depressed.


pete

[peter123]

hi there,
any idea about the proofreading??

[Thomas_BE]

Pete,

You should try to give a bit more context, that would make the proofreading easier and more conclusive.

1. John is having the same dream as does Mary. They both want to be CEO in the future.
(Best:) John and Mary have the same dream.
(Less good, but closer to your original:) John is having the same dream as Mary.

2. The plastic bag is one of the polluters. A plastic bag is one of the polluters.
The plastic bag: OK, if you are talking in general, about the effect of plastic bags on the environment.


3. John likes to abuse drugs when he is depressed.
John likes to use drugs. (cocaine, marihuana)
Abusing drugs is rather about abusing drugs, like tranquilizers, etc...
Although I think the general term 'drug abuse' is used in all situations...

regards,

Thomas

[peter123]

Hi there,

thanks a lot.
So do you mean when I want to say 'Nowadays more teenagers like to use drugs' means 'they abuse drugs'?

How do I say 'They abuse drugs.'???
peter

[Anglika]

In your sentence, you will need to say "John likes to use/take drugs when he is depressed" - it is not clear from the sentence if he is having the drugs to counter the depression medically or whether he is using "recreational" drugs.

John's abuse of drugs is the result of his depression