Do you feel anything wrong in this sentence?

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roseriver1012

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"All in all, going to the west maybe brings more benefits"
Do you think the sentence above is right in terms of grammar or according to your habit of speech?
Thanks for your help in advance!
 

tedtmc

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ha179

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Not a teacher.
I think your sentence should be:
"All in all going to the west may bring more benefits"
 

mmasny

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I think this will be closer to the meaning meant:

"All in all, maybe going to the west brings more benefits."
 

TheParser

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"All in all, going to the west maybe brings more benefits"
Do you think the sentence above is right in terms of grammar or according to your habit of speech?
Thanks for your help in advance!

***** NOT A TEACHER ****

Good morning.

(1) If you are referring to the United States and Europe, most people would definitely capitalize "West."

(2) Your use of "going to the West" can be interpreted in two ways:

(a) Do you mean: the benefits of leaving China and moving to the West.

(i) Then maybe something like: I shall miss my country, but moving to the West will, overall/ all in all, be more beneficial.

(b) Or do you mean: your country's adoption of Western ways will bring more benefits.

(i) Then maybe something like: All in all/ In the long run, adopting the ways of the West/adopting Western ideas will be very beneficial to my country.

Have a nice day!
 

roseriver1012

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Thanks for the above replies. In fact, what I doubt about this sentence is just the position of "maybe" . But it seems those who hold the same view are not native speakers, which makes me still feel unsure about the sentence. And the only native directs his attetion to the word "west". The "west" in my sentence refers to the west of China (or rather Tibet). So I am waiting for more help! Thanks again.
 

Eric Davis

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"All in all, going to the west maybe brings more benefits"
Do you think the sentence above is right in terms of grammar or according to your habit of speech?
Thanks for your help in advance!


I'm not a teacher, but maybe this is what you intended:

All in all, going to the west might bring more benefits.


I hope that was helpful.
 

roseriver1012

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I'm not a teacher, but maybe this is what you intended:

All in all, going to the west might bring more benefits.

I hope that was helpful.


Does it mean that you think it is wrong to use "maybe" in this way in the sentence I gave above?
 

kfredson

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Does it mean that you think it is wrong to use "maybe" in this way in the sentence I gave above?

Actually, I'm not so sure. I agree with the others that there are more graceful ways to say this, but is it, in fact, grammatically incorrect? After all, if we replaced "maybe" with "perhaps" I doubt that we would be having as much trouble with it.
"All in all, going to the West perhaps brings more benefits."

If that sentence is acceptable, does the use of "maybe" make it incorrect? I personally don't think so, but I hope that others will share their opinion on this.
 

roseriver1012

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Right! Not grammatically wrong, but not natural. Your replies make it clear to me now! Thanks!
 

kl004535

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I think this will be closer to the meaning meant:

"All in all, maybe going to the west brings more benefits."

I agree.

In the case of Maybe:
Maybe is an adverb and it should be put at the front of the clause, because it modifies the whole clause following it.

In the case of May:
May is a modal verb. It should be put ahead of "bring" in the case of your sentence.
 

kfredson

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I agree.

In the case of Maybe:
Maybe is an adverb and it should be put at the front of the clause, because it modifies the whole clause following it.

In the case of May:
May is a modal verb. It should be put ahead of "bring" in the case of your sentence.

I would agree that it sounds more natural to place "maybe" at the front of the clause. However, it loses the emphasis on "going to the West." I would leave it where it is. Better yet, I would replace it with "perhaps."
 

corum

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All in all, going to the west maybe brings more benefits

It is correct. You can place a content disjunct between any two adjecent constituents that are immediately dominated by the S node. See below:

58329766.gif



Maybe (1.), all in all, going to the west... :tick:
All in all, maybe (2.), going to the west brings more benefits. :tick:
All in all, going to the west maybe (3.) brings more benefits. :tick:
All in all, going to the west brings more benefits maybe (4.). :tick:
 
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