[Grammar] Officials have made it clear over ten years that/when they have no plan to...

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wotcha

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1. Officials have made it clear over ten years that they have no plan to straighten the tower.

2. Officials have made it clear over ten years when they have no plan to straighten up the tower.


Of course sentence 1 is grammatical, but how about the sentence 2?

Is it grammatical too?
 

emsr2d2

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1. Officials have made it clear over ten years that they have no plan to straighten the tower.

2. Officials have made it clear over ten years when they have no plan to straighten up the tower.


Of course sentence 1 is grammatical, but how about the sentence 2?

Is it grammatical too?

No.
 

billmcd

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1. Officials have made it clear over ten years that they have no plan to straighten the tower.

2. Officials have made it clear over ten years when they have no plan to straighten up the tower.


Of course sentence 1 is grammatical, but how about the sentence 2?

Is it grammatical too?

And I would add to emsr2d2's response that I don't particularly care for #1 either, with the phrase "...over ten years..". It's not clear whether the time span intended is beyond ten years or during ten years. To distinguish between the two meanings it should read either "for over ten years" or "during a (or 'the') ten year period".

 

emsr2d2

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And I would add to emsr2d2's response that I don't particularly care for #1 either, with the phrase "...over ten years..". It's not clear whether the time span intended is beyond ten years or during ten years. To distinguish between the two meanings it should read either "for over ten years" or "during a (or 'the') ten year period".


I have no issue with "over ten years". As far as I'm concerned that means "over a period of ten years" (so "during"). If it meant "beyond", I would expect to see "for​ over ten years".
 

tzfujimino

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Hello, wotcha.
:-D
"Officials have made it clear (for) over ten years [that they have no plan to straighten the tower]."

The 'it' in the above sentence refers to 'that they have no plan to straighten the tower'.
('it' = 'that they have no plan to straighten the tower')
So, #2 doesn't work.

I wonder if it has anything to do with 'the Leaning Tower of Pisa'.
 

Rover_KE

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I wonder if it has anything to do with 'the Leaning Tower of Pisa'.

If it has, it's no wonder they've no plans to straighten it. The stream of tourists hoping to be there when it finally topples over would dry up overnight.

Nobody would go to look at 'the Vertical Tower of Pisa'.

Rover
 

emsr2d2

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There were rumours of a plan to straighten it for years but I believe that in the end they simply did something to reinforce it so that it doesn't lean over any further. It's leaning more now than it was when I climbed to the top of it in 1976!
 

billmcd

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I have no issue with "over ten years". As far as I'm concerned that means "over a period of ten years" (so "during"). If it meant "beyond", I would expect to see "for​ over ten years".

I would be inclined to agree when written/spoken simply as "over ten years", but I don't think we can assume that when the post originates from a person whose native language is not English.
 
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