I am writing a report and need help with a few grammatical errors I seem to be having.?

Question

Here are some sentences I need help with. Could you please just revise it for me?

Environmental ethics pose the question - do we have specific duties or obligations to other species or nature in general?

Yes, expanding a business is good; and yes, making more money is good. But when one is killing off species or even just endangering them, they have crossed the line. (I know this one is bad but hey, Im only 16...)

Alright, just throwing this out there - The part where I say do we have obligations...., that is an exact definition/quote from my AP E.S. book. The whole environmental ethics theory is copied nearly word for word, and I wanted to change the use of "we" but it was referring to the human race and I assumed it would make more sense to include myself as a human being as is the rest of the world. Anyways, thanks to everyone for the help, although I got many answers that were all different and have no idea which one to choose.

Answer 1

Environmental ethics pose the question: Do we have specific duties or obligations to other species or nature in general?

Yes, expanding business and making more money is good, but when such activities kill off or endanger a species, a line has been crossed.

Answer 2

Environmental ethics poseS the question; do we have specific duties or obligations to other species or nature in general?

Yes, expanding a business is good and SO IS making more money. But when one is killing off species or even endangering them, they have crossed the line. (I know this one is bad but hey, Im only 16...)

not sure who "they" are in the last part but if you have not named in the last paragraph you could do so here and that would help the sentence out tremendously.

Answer 3

The theory behind environmental ethics poses the question: Do we have specific duties or obligations to other species, or nature in general?

Yes, expanding business and making more money is good, but when one is killing off species, or even just endangering them, they have crossed the line.

Answer 4

Environmental ethics pose the question: do we have specific duties or obligations to other species or to nature in general?

Yes. Expanding business and making money are good, but when one is exterminating a species or endangering the survival of that species, they have crossed the line.

Answer 5

Instead of suggesting better sentences, you seem to have greater problems with consistency.

The first sentence uses the pronoun "we" (first person), then of shift to using "one" (third person).

Also, you have too many options. (You use the word "or" too much.)

Environmental ethics pose the question, "Do we have specific duties or obligations to other species or nature in general?"

"Good" is an bland word.

Yes, expanding a business may be necessary; and yes, making more money is the ultimate goal. Yet, when a business kills off species or even just endangers them, it has crossed the line.

Answer 6

Well first off, "environmental ethics" can't pose a question. Only people can pose questions. You could say, "Env. ethics holds that we have specific duties and obligations to other species and to nature in general."

"Expanding business can have positive effects, such as creating jobs. But if the endangerment of species occurs as a result of expanding business, then we as a society face a diffucult choice about what is best for mankind in the long run."

Etc.

Answer 7

Here's my revision:


"Do we have obligations to other species?

Expanding a business is good, and so is making money. But, when one is killing off species, or even just endangering them, one has crossed the line."

Notice that I have cut out unecessary verbage, added a comma, and corrected pronoun agreement.

All in all, not that many adjustments.

Answer 8

Second sentence is fine as written. In the first sentence, I would put a colon (not a dash) after the word "question." After "species," put "and/or to."

I hope this helps.

Chow!!