Natives were taxed disproportionately when compared to non-natives
2007-04-05 10:08:37 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
The sentence makes sense only because our brains want it to. You can't compare verbs. The sentence begs the question, When what is compared? "Taxes for natives are disproportionate when compared to taxes for non-natives." That is ambiguous, of course, since it could be disproportionately high or low.
2007-04-05 10:21:14 · answer #1 · answered by thylawyer 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does make sense, but it leads to an assumption rather than a true conclusion. Most reading that sentence would thus assume that the natives were taxed higher than the non-natives, when really the sentence doesn't say who was taxed higher.
2007-04-05 17:22:57 · answer #2 · answered by Shawn B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it makes sense but i don't think it's the best way of expressing that. "natives were taxed disproportionately to non-natives" is better because saying "disproportionately" and "when compared to" is repetitive as disproportionately already implies that a comparison is being made.
2007-04-05 17:16:25 · answer #3 · answered by Ochre 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes. I take it to mean that the natives were overtaxed compared to the non natives.
2007-04-05 17:13:23 · answer #4 · answered by i_amme_ur_not 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, it means that the natives were unjustly taxed than the non-natives. That's my understanding.
2007-04-05 17:16:24 · answer #5 · answered by angel 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It no doubt sounds real good to me. I am an English major and think the sentence is a good one. Take care.
2007-04-05 17:17:46 · answer #6 · answered by carly071 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋