cause damge to the environment

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alpacinou

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Hello.

Is it correct to say we "cause damage to" our planet?

Is this sentence correct and natural?

The emission of greenhouse gases in the biggest damage we cause to planet earth.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Hello.

Is it correct to say we "cause damage to" our planet?

Yes, but just saying "damage" is more natural.


Is this sentence correct and natural?

The emission of greenhouse gases in the biggest damage we cause to planet Earth.

Yes.
When you're talking about dirt, use earth. When it's our planet's name, capitalize it, just like Mars, Venus, and so on.
 
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jutfrank

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I have to disagree with Charlie Bernstein. Your sentence is awful.

For a start, you've misspelled is.

Second, don't say big damage. That word combination doesn't work.
 

alpacinou

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Thanks to Charlie and Jutfrank both. I would really appreciate it if you would also share your knowledge in the Writing and Editing section as I feel like you don't visit that area of the forum as much as you visit the Ask a Teacher section. :oops:
 

emsr2d2

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Thanks to Charlie and Jutfrank both. I would really appreciate it if you would also share your knowledge in the Writing and Editing section as I feel like you don't visit that area of the forum as much as you visit the Ask a Teacher section. :oops:

We don't visit it as often. That's mainly because it takes a lot longer to deal with posts in that section and, as volunteers, we have to choose carefully where to spend our precious time. If I have 15 minutes to spare and I can choose between answering 10 questions in Ask A Teacher or dealing with just one piece of text in Editing and Writing Topics, I will pick the former.
But people do visit that section. You just have to be more patient with your posts there.
 

alpacinou

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We don't visit it as often. That's mainly because it takes a lot longer to deal with posts in that section and, as volunteers, we have to choose carefully where to spend our precious time. If I have 15 minutes to spare and I can choose between answering 10 questions in Ask A Teacher or dealing with just one piece of text in Editing and Writing Topics, I will pick the former.
But people do visit that section. You just have to be more patient with your posts there.

I totally understand. Each and every one of your answers is more valuable to me than you can imagine. Difficult though it may be, I will have to learn to be more patient to get answers.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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I have to disagree with Charlie Bernstein. Your sentence is awful.

For a start, you've misspelled is.

Second, don't say big damage. That word combination doesn't work.
Yes, I agree. I just didn't want to get picky. I thought about a few substitutes for bigger but decided it was understandable.

You're right, a full reworking would make it more natural.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Thanks to Charlie and Jutfrank both. I would really appreciate it if you would also share your knowledge in the Writing and Editing section as I feel like you don't visit that area of the forum as much as you visit the Ask a Teacher section. :oops:
I do go there.

Students don't use the Literature and Slang sections as much as they used. I miss that.
 

alpacinou

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Maybe it's best that this thread be moved to the Writing and Editing section as now the sentence needs to be re-written.:oops:
I think Rover will want to run me over with a Range Rover! :cry:
 

jutfrank

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What is it that you're trying to do with this sentence, alpacinoutd? Is there anything in particular you're trying to practise?

There's nothing wrong with cause damage, if that's what you're wondering.
 

alpacinou

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What is it that you're trying to do with this sentence, alpacinoutd? Is there anything in particular you're trying to practise?

There's nothing wrong with cause damage, if that's what you're wondering.

I saw a question asked in the TOEFL exam about the ways human beings damage the environment. I wanted to answer that so I wrote that.

How can I fix it?
 

alpacinou

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Could one of the dear moderators please move this thread to the Writing and Editing section before Rover runs me over with a Range Rover? :oops:

This is the sentence:

The emission of greenhouse gases in the biggest damage we cause to planet earth.

And it needs to be fixed and re-written.
 

tedmc

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The emission of greenhouse gases causes one of the biggest damages to the environment of planet Earth.

The emission of greenhouse gases causes climate change and air pollution of planet Earth.
 
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alpacinou

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I want to use "damage". And I want to say that it us who cause this big damage.
 

Tarheel

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I want to use "damage". And I want to say that it is us who cause this big damage.

That's good enough for me. (Apparently, humans are not part of the environment.)
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Could one of the dear moderators please move this thread to the Writing and Editing section before Rover runs me over with a Range Rover? :oops:

This is the sentence:

The emission of greenhouse gases in the biggest damage we cause to planet earth.

And it needs to be fixed and re-written.
Here's one possiblity:

Of all human activity, greenhouse gas emission causes the greatest damage to climate and life.


A planet is so big that there's not much damage we can do to damage ours. But we can do great damage climate and life on our planets surface.

Now try rewriting it in your own words. And be sure to capitalize Earth.
 

alpacinou

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Here's one possiblity:

Of all human activity, greenhouse gas emission causes the greatest damage to climate and life.


A planet is so big that there's not much damage we can do to damage ours. But we can do great damage climate and life on our planets surface.

Now try rewriting it in your own words. And be sure to capitalize Earth.

Does this work?

We cause the biggest damage to the environment by the emission of greenhouse gases.

I want to use "we" in it.
 

tree123

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Does this work?

We cause the biggest damage to the environment by the emission of greenhouse gases.

I want to use "we" in it.

(Neither a teacher nor a native speaker)

[STRIKE]Hello alpacinoutd

In Post 3, jutfrank has advised 'don't say big damage. That word combination doesn't work'.
I've read Charlie Bernstein has offered a replacement of 'great damage' for 'big damage'. [/STRIKE]

EDIT: alpacinoutd, Sorry, please ignore the words above. After reading tedmc's reply in Post 20, I am not sure I understood jutfrank's comment correctly, so I've striked them.


Hi jutfrank, or someone else,

Can I say 'severe damage', 'little damage' ? Do these combinations work?

If 'little damage' doesn't work either, what adjective should I use when I try to say the damage is not great.


 
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tedmc

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(Neither a teacher nor a native speaker)

Hello alpacinoutd

In Post 3, jutfrank has advised 'don't say big damage. That word combination doesn't work'.
I've read Charlie Bernstein has offered a replacement of 'great damage' for 'big damage'.


Hi jutfrank, or someone else,

Can I say 'severe damage', 'little damage' ? Do these combinations work?

If 'little damage' doesn't work either, what adjective should I use when I try to say the damage is not great.



There is nothing wrong with using big damage or biggest damage.
Neither do I see anything wrong with little damage. The alternatives are minor/slight/light/inconsequential/negligible damage.
Severe damage is also common, so are major/heavy/massive/serious/colossal/catastrophic damage.
 
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