[Grammar] If we want to prevent this from becoming an even bigger problem

[ambitious-girl]

Hello all,

Does "this" mean "the situation when fast foods have become some people's staple dies"?
Isn't "," necessary before the sentence "then we need..."?


For some people, however, fast foods have become their staple diet and as a result they are overweight. If we want to prevent this from becoming an even bigger problem in the future then we need to address this situation now.

Source: Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS

 

[Matthew Wai]

I agree with you that 'this' refers to 'the situation where fast foods [...]'.
I would put a comma after the if-clause.

 

[Tarheel]

Hello all,

Does "this" mean "the situation where fast foods have become some people's staple diets"?
Isn't "," necessary before the sentence "then we need..."?


For some people, however, fast foods have become their staple diet and as a result they are overweight. If we want to prevent this from becoming an even bigger problem in the future then we need to address this situation now.

Source: Cambridge Vocabulary for IELTS

Yes.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I would put commas around 'as a result'.

 

[ambitious-girl]

I would put commas around 'as a result'.

Did you mean the following?
For some people, however, fast foods have become their staple diets and, as a result, they are overweight. If we want to prevent this from becoming an even bigger problem in the future, then we need to address this situation now.

 

[Tarheel]

If I was saying that sentence there would be no pause within the phrase and as a result they are overweight.

 

[Matthew Wai]

● He made one big mistake, and, as a result, lost his job.

Source: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/result_1?q=result

 

[Tarheel]

● He made one big mistake, and, as a result, lost his job.

Source: https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/result_1?q=result

From the same page:

She died as a result of her injuries.

No comma!

:roll:

 

[Matthew Wai]

1. He made one big mistake, and, as a result, lost his job.
2. She died as a result of her injuries.

In 1, there are commas because 'as a result' is used before the verb.
In 2, there are no commas because 'as a result' is used after the verb.

That is how I understand it.

 

[Rover_KE]

1. He made one big mistake, and, as a result, lost his job.

You have picked up on one of millions of sample sentences from one of thousands of dictionaries.

They haven't room to add a rider after that example to the effect that

'On the other hand, comma minimalists like Tarheel and Rover consider that peppering an easily comprehensible sentence with three punctuation marks which break up its flow while adding nothing to the meaning or understanding of it would write the same sentence with no commas whatsoever'.

(And I accept that other writers are free to add more punctuation to my sentence above if they think it will add to the understanding of it.)