[Grammar] Face masks must be worn in the PXmart store at all times.

[kadioguy]

(On a poster in a market in Taiwan)

Face masks must be worn in the PXmart store at all times.

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I would say:

Please wear a face mask at all times in the PXmart store.

Questions:

1. Does the original sound natural to you? If not, how would you say it?

2. Does my version sound better?

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(Source)

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. The word store is redundant. I can't find PXmart in Google. I see Pxmart (small x) and PX Mart (space after the X).

2. It sounds equally natural. The Please makes it sound British. (The British tend to say "please" more. Americans tend to say "Thank you" more.)

 

[Tarheel]

The first one is okay, and so is the second. (I've been wondering how you're supposed to wear one outside if you have no idea where to look for them or if you're not sure where to look. (I have an idea, but what if I look for them there and I don't find any?)

(Cross posted.)

 

[tedmc]

I think #1 sounds mandatory and stricter than #2 which is more like a request. Having "face mask" as the subject makes it the focus.

 

[kadioguy]

Thank you three.

a. Face masks must be worn in the PX mart.

b. A face mask must be worn in the PX mart.

Do (a) and (b) have the same effect?

1. The word store is redundant. I can't find PXmart in Google. I see Pxmart (small x) and PX Mart (space after the X).

I like "PX Mart" more.

(I've been wondering how you're supposed to wear one outside if you have no idea where to look for them or if you're not sure where to look. (I have an idea, but what if I look for them there and I don't find any?)

Any kind of face mask is acceptable, even like this one:

I think #1 sounds mandatory and stricter than #2, which is more like a request. Having "face mask" as the subject makes it the focus.

I would add a comma before "which". ;-)

 

[GoesStation]

Thank you three.

a. Face masks must be worn in the PX mart.

b. A face mask must be worn in the PX mart.

Do (a) and (b) have the same effect?

Not exactly. Sentence A makes it clearer that everyone present in the store has to wear a mask. Sentence B is perhaps a little vaguer. I'd use A.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . I've been wondering how you're supposed to wear one outside if you have no idea where to look for them . . . .

It's inside that they care about. I don't think they care where you got it. Just don't come in without it.

They're letting you figure out for yourself where to get one. I'd go home and come back in a bandana.

 

[SoothingDave]

The second is more polite. I don't think this is a situation where politeness is the important thing. This is a command. You must wear a mask!

 

[Tarheel]

It's inside that they care about. I don't think they care where you got it. Just don't come in without it.

They're letting you figure out for yourself where to get one. I'd go home and come back in a bandana.

OK. Well. I looked in the bedroom closet, and I didn't see anything.

I suppose I'm supposed to get some, but I'd have to leave the apartment, or somebody would have to bring me some.

For some reason I used to have a box of them. (I'm in a high-risk category--69 and with a heart condition.)

 

[SoothingDave]

I've gone to the store wearing a bandanna like a stagecoach robber.

 

[bubbha]

Just for the record, PX Mart is a supermarket chain in Taiwan. It used to serve military personnel only (hence the name); now it is open to the general public.

 

[Tarheel]

Thank you three.

a. Face masks must be worn in the PX mart.

b. A face mask must be worn in the PX mart.

Do (a) and (b) have the same effect?


I like "PX Mart" more.



Any kind of face mask is acceptable, even like this one:

I would add a comma before "which". ;-)

You're supposed to cover the mouth and nose, and with that one, apparently, the eyes too.