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My friend and I want to start a business but we do not want a single dishonestly earn

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tufguy

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My friend and I want to start a business but we do not want a single dishonestly earned penny.

Could you please check my sentence?
 

Tdol

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We do not want to make a single penny dishonestly.
 
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Tdol

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And is this impossible if you run the business?
 

tufguy

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And is this impossible if you run the business?

Yes, and if it is not possible then I won't do it.

Tufguy, your reply is perfectly written. Congratulations!

You might want to review the question and your answer though. Do you really believe that it is not possible to earn money honestly from a business?
 

cameron206

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My friend and I want to start a business but we do not want a single dishonestly earned penny.

Could you please check my sentence?

I am not a teacher.

I think there are 2 sentences possible here, with slightly different shades of meaning.
Consider these two:

1. My friend and I want to start a business but we do not want a single dishonestly-earned penny.
and
2. My friend and I want to start a business but we do not want to earn a single penny dishonestly.

#2 I think is quite straightforward. My friend and I do not want to engage in any dishonest practices. We do not want to earn money by being actively dishonest. BUT, we would certainly do business with people who themselves may be dishonest. If I were selling fruit, I would sell to anyone- but at a fair price, with no deception about my product.

#1, on the other hand, can be interpreted more deeply. Not only do I wish to avoid dishonest practices....I also do not wish to do business with anyone whose money THEY earned dishonestly. Thus, I would not sell fruit to criminals or cheats. In addition, I would not personally engage in dishonesty.


 

tufguy

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Tufguy, your reply is perfectly written. Congratulations!

You might want to review the question and your answer though. Do you really believe that it is not possible to earn money honestly from a business?

Sorry, I made a mistake there. I wanted to say "Yes, I do believe that you can earn money honestly". If it is not possible then I do not need that money that has been earned dishonestly.
 
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