• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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    19 days ago

    Those all seem fine. The third is a little colloquial and I’d say “She wasn’t comfortable with him driving” to make it clear what the issue was. But the rest don’t really need a verb, for example:

    1. what his friends are doing isn’t making him feel safe, their proximity is; if their actions were important, include the verb (“working,” “focusing,” etc)
    2. similar to 1
    3. implication is that he’d be an unsafe driver, but there could be other interpretations (e.g. if he’s a child, maybe he’d break the steering column), but those are unlikely
    4. law generally cares who was in control, not necessarily who actually caused the accident; if the passenger jerks the wheel, that’s on the defense to prove, prosecution just needs to know who was supposed to be in control to eliminate guilt for their client
    5. documents don’t do anything, so they are assumed to be at rest

    “Everyone on board” is using boats as an analogy, and it should be clear what the desired action is that needs to be taken (i.e. remain on board vs get on board). The verb there is pretty significant because it defines what action needs to be taken to get to the desired end state (everyone being on board). Most of the time, I hear, “we need to get everyone on board” instead of “we need everyone on board” because the action tells the listener what they should be doing.

    Anyway, that’s my take. In an informal setting (e.g. discussing over lunch or at someone’s desk), use whatever. But in a more formal setting (soliciting business, presenting at a meeting, etc), I expect more precise language.