Grammar Question?

Question

I know this sentence is wrong: Simple, the executives of the company got greedy. (It's answering a question about how something happened). What would the correct grammar/punctuation for this sentence be? Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

wht sentence

Answer 2

The executives of the company got greedy

Answer 3

In colloquial spoken language, the sentence should be fine. But grammatically speaking, if you want to be strictly correct, in the first part of the sentence, you need to add something to "simple". Here's some choices:

1) The conclusion is simple; the executives . . .
2) The answer is simple: the executives . . .
3) It's simple. The executives . . .

The use of a semi-colon, colon, or period is a matter of emphasis and/or phrasing preference.

In the second part of the sentence, you need to substitute something for "got", like "became", "grew", "were", etc., because "got" literally means "acquired".

Hope that helps.

Answer 4

Just be succinct and say "The company's executives became greedy." Or if you still want to work in that "simple" say that they "simply became greedy." In this case avoid the usage of the word "got" altogether. It is not grammatically correct.

Answer 5

You could try this: The executives of the company got simply greedy. Or try this one: The executives of the company are simply greedy.

Answer 6

I would use a colon after "simple." It seems to be an informal construction, as if it were part of an FAQ of a website, or in the Q&A of a newspaper story. You might even want to re-phrase it, like:

"The answer is simple: the company got greedy."

A rule for using the colon is:
"the clause that precedes the mark (where you're considering a colon) ought to be able to stand on its own as an independent clause."
From http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm

Answer 7

The answer is simple. The executives of the firm were greedy.

Possibly:

The answer is simple: the executives of the firm were greedy.

I try not to use phrases like "got greedy" in writing, although I use it in speech.

Answer 8

"The answer is simple; the executives of the company got greedy."

Answer 9

Simple,the greedy bastards who have stock on Wall Street decided instead to invest the money in prostitution and drugs.

Answer 10

The answer/explanation is simple; the executives of the company became greedy.
thats how I would change it.

Answer 11

What question are you referring to ? The pnly question I see is " What would the correct grammer/punctuation for this sentence be? But you don't say what the question is.