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My Media English Watch / Re: A very serious case of species and animal gender confusion

« on: August 24, 2010, 03:18:54 PM »

(3) Manila Bulletin: Grammatically flawed phrasing; use of the nonstandard “with regards to”
Gov’t set to discuss VFA

Due to the urgency of the issue whether to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo disclosed that he is set to meet this week with the foreign affair chairs of both the Senate and the Lower House to discuss what steps the government should take with regards to this matter.

“I’m meeting this week with Senate foreign relations Senator Loren Legarda and the chairman of foreign relations in the House, Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara to discuss the matter,” Romulo told reporters at the sidelines of the event honoring the Filipino women ambassadors at the DFA Main Building last Monday night.

(a)   Grammatically flawed phrasing: The phrase “the issue whether to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not” is grammatically wrong, It needs the preposition “of” before the conjunction “whether” to properly convey the intended idea.
(b)   Use of the nonstandard “with regards to”: The prepositional phrase “with regards to this matter” is considered nonstandard by grammar authorities, so it should be studiously avoided. The accepted form is “with regard to”—no “s” at the tail end of “regard”—and “regarding.” I recommend “regarding” in this particular instance.

Here’s the problematic passage as corrected:

“Due to the urgency of the issue of whether to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo disclosed that he is set to meet this week with the foreign affair chairs of both the Senate and the Lower House to discuss what steps the government should take regarding this matter.

“‘I’m meeting this week with Senate foreign relations Senator Loren Legarda and the chairman of foreign relations in the House, Albay Rep. Al Francis Bichara to discuss the matter,’ Romulo told reporters at the sidelines of the event honoring the Filipino women ambassadors at the DFA Main Building last Monday night.”

Hi, Joe! It’s been some time since I wrote to ask you about English grammar usage. Well, I do have another question for you now. In this week's English Media Watch, you corrected the grammatically flawed first paragraph of a Manila Bulletin report headlined “Gov’t set to discuss VFA.” Your rewritten version, shown below, sounds so much clearer, typical of your enviable writing style.

“Due to the urgency of the issue whether to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) or not, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo disclosed that he is set to meet this week with the foreign affair chairs of both the Senate and the Lower House to discuss what steps the government should take with regards to this matter.”

As what I am wont to do when poring over the print media’s wrong uses of grammar featured in your Forum, I at first attempt to correct the mistakes on my own, then compare my corrections with yours. In the case of the Manila Bulletin report, here’s how I have rewritten the first paragraph.   

“Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo disclosed that he is set to meet this week with foreign affair chairs of both the Senate and the Lower House to discuss what steps the government should take with regard to the urgent issue of whether or not to sever the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).”

Do you think my version is also correct?  What about my use of the phrase “whether or not”?  I would appreciate if you could give your usual precise comments. Thanks, Joe, and warmest regards.