Azah
Junior Member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2015
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Bengali; Bangla
- Home Country
- Bangladesh
- Current Location
- Bangladesh
When population increases, necessity of land used to built house or accommodation also increases. To meet this need, people fills canals and ponds.
1. With a growing population, many canals and ponds are getting filled in with soil and sand.
2. With the increasing of population, many canals and ponds are getting filled in with soil and sand.
Which one from above sentences is correct or better? If both are correct, is there any difference in meaning of them?
I did a search in Google to find out the differences in the meaning of increase and grow. I found some websites where differences between these two words have been showed. Unfortunately, I failed to come into a decision about the sentences stated above.
Some references say that- We don't say "with the increasing of population" even though that is a grammatical use of a gerund/verbal noun. It would need to be "with an increasing population" or "with the increase in population". I would use "growing" because population growth/increase is a biological function - that's a stylistic choice, not a semantic choice.
Other reference says that- "The use of "grow" in this context, while not technically wrong, is suspect since growing implies some sort of organic process that applies to individuals' adding more material to themselves. Vegetables grow, germinating from seeds in the earth. Children grow as they continue to eat. In this context, we're talking about a mere hike in numbers that applies to a collective, a "population," so the more neutral "increase" would be sufficient.
As a side note, I'm also not particularly fond of that hazy use of "with" and might recommend replacing with a clearer substitute, possibly "because of." "
Please say what is your opinion.
1. With a growing population, many canals and ponds are getting filled in with soil and sand.
2. With the increasing of population, many canals and ponds are getting filled in with soil and sand.
Which one from above sentences is correct or better? If both are correct, is there any difference in meaning of them?
I did a search in Google to find out the differences in the meaning of increase and grow. I found some websites where differences between these two words have been showed. Unfortunately, I failed to come into a decision about the sentences stated above.
Some references say that- We don't say "with the increasing of population" even though that is a grammatical use of a gerund/verbal noun. It would need to be "with an increasing population" or "with the increase in population". I would use "growing" because population growth/increase is a biological function - that's a stylistic choice, not a semantic choice.
Other reference says that- "The use of "grow" in this context, while not technically wrong, is suspect since growing implies some sort of organic process that applies to individuals' adding more material to themselves. Vegetables grow, germinating from seeds in the earth. Children grow as they continue to eat. In this context, we're talking about a mere hike in numbers that applies to a collective, a "population," so the more neutral "increase" would be sufficient.
As a side note, I'm also not particularly fond of that hazy use of "with" and might recommend replacing with a clearer substitute, possibly "because of." "
Please say what is your opinion.