1. Anaspiringauthor

    Anaspiringauthor Member

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    Please Help Confused

    Discussion in 'Word Mechanics' started by Anaspiringauthor, Jan 23, 2018.

    Hello to all …

    I have this sentence I've been working on:

    "And whereas others equipped themselves with a microphone for their performances, he rejected …"

    Without changing the sentence too dramatically (as I'd like it to remain my own), can someone help me with choosing between these:

    1. "rejected all such pretension"

    2. "rejected any such pretension"

    3. "rejected all such pretensions"

    4. "rejected any such pretensions"

    I have narrowed it down to those four and don't have the linguistic ability and/or ear to pick up on the subtle differences between them, if any. I'd like to pick the one that's grammatically best. If all are equally acceptable, I wouldn't mind hearing someone's opinion as to which one just sounds better, given those choices. Thank you :)
     
  2. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    I would vote for "any such pretension," but my reasoning is about meaning rather than grammar--though I think the grammar is fine, too.

    "All such" suggests that there's a potentially large body of actions similar to using a microphone.

    "pretensions" suggests that they engaged in multiple actions, while they just engaged in one--using a microphone.

    As I see it, there's one action, and he wants to avoid that action or anything like it. So I go with "any such pretension."

    And now I'm wondering if "pretension" is misspelled, but I think that's the "seen it so many times it looks wrong now" thing.
     
    Shenanigator likes this.
  3. Catrin Lewis

    Catrin Lewis Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Community Volunteer

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    "Pretension" is right, though the adjective is "pretentious." Go figure. And @ChickenFreak is correct: "any such pretension" would fit the beginning of the sentence best.

    (I couldn't help wondering why using a mike could be considered pretentious in the first place. But come to think about it, I've seen soloists use one in halls with wonderful acoustics, because it made them look like their favorite celebrity performers. So, yeah.) :bigwink:
     
  4. Bosco

    Bosco Member

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    ...Such pretension
     
  5. DeeDee

    DeeDee Contributor Contributor

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    :supergrin:Still, it enhances the human knowledge and that's always a good thing :supergrin:

    All are grammatically correct. The meaning differences are very subtle and not completely distinct. That person's issue might be with a microphone as a gadget which makes your voice sound unnatural ("pretension") or he might think all electronic gadgets used in music mean faking it ("pretensions"). But then again all gadgets might be inluded within "pretension", too, as a category.
    It's a bit more obvious with "any such/all such" since "any such" feels more familiar to the ear, it's a more common construction. "all such" sounds more like a personal quirk in the speech. Mostly, I'd stick with differentiating between "all" and "any". Because he means "whatever, any sort and type of" pretension, not really "all possible pretensions".
     

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