a friend who never judges ...

[Odessa Dawn]

I think of you as a friend who never judges and who can never hurt me.
I think of you as a friend who never judges or hurts me.
I think of you as a friend who never judges or/and never hurts.

What's the much better substitution, if any, for those sentences, please?

 

[teechar]

The third sentence is incorrect because "judge" and "hurt" in this context are transitive verbs.

That leaves the first and second which in fact are different in meaning, because in the first you say the friend is not capable of hurting you, whereas in the second the friend does not hurt you.

Therefore, the first and second sentences are both correct, but have slightly different meanings. ;-)

 

[probus]

Rubbish. I guess all the moderators are asleep.

 

[Raymott]

What exactly is rubbish, probus?

 

[emsr2d2]

I think of you as a friend who never judges. :tick:
It means "I think of you as a friend who never judges anyone."


The version with "hurts" is also grammatically correct but doesn't mean the same as sentences 1 or 2.

I think of you as a friend who never hurts = I think of you as a friend who is never in pain (emotional or physical).

"I think of you as a friend who can't hurt me" matches the meaning of sentence 1.
"I think of you as a friend who never hurts me" matches the meaning of sentence 2.

 

[TheParser]

What's a better substitution?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


I do NOT claim that it is "better," but perhaps you could tell your friend something like:

"I want you to know how much I treasure your nonjudgmental and unconditional support. You are a true friend."

 

[probus]

What exactly is rubbish, probus?

The whole of teechar's reply.

 

[Rover_KE]

It seemed fair enough to me.