I need a second opinion on this short sentence...

[Casp]

Hi Teacher ;-)

Which sentence is most correct and which one shouldn't I use (if any)?

A) The guide deals with skin rashes caused without apparent reason.

B) The guide deals with skin rashes caused by no apparent reason.

C) The guide deals with skin rashes caused for no apparent reason.

Thanks.

 

[probus]

None of them sounds natural. Reason and cause are distinct concepts.

Try:

1. The guide deals with skin rashes with no apparent cause.

2. The guide deals with skin rashes without an apparent cause

And if you are writing in medical jargon you could say:

The guide deals with idiopathic skin rashes.

 

[Rover_KE]

Casp, a better title would have been The guide deals with skin rashes.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

Rover

 

[Casp]

Thanks Probus - I like your suggestions and I will use one of them. I won't use the ones I posted but I am curious to know if they are straight-out wrong (would it be very obvious that my first language isn't English if I used them?)

Rover_KE: sorry, you are right.

 

[bhaisahab]

Thanks Probus - I like your suggestions and I will use one of them. I won't use the ones I posted but I am curious to know if they are straight-out wrong (would it be very obvious that my first language isn't English if I used them?) Yes.

Bhai.

 

[Casp]

Thanks Bhai - you say yes but do you mean that they are straight-out wrong, or are they just clumsy? I came up with B, my proofreader suggested that I changed it to either A or C.

Is it very wrong? The instructions to my proofreader/editor were to change my text as little as possible but remove errors so the text wouldn't sound strange to someone who is native American. Now I wonder if the rest of my text makes sense.... :-(

 

[probus]

A cause and a reason are two different things. I would not use reason if I were you. And there is no question here of a difference between AmE vs BrE. Now that we know you are asking about a publication rather than some casual writing or conversation, I feel confident in saying that reason is outright wrong here.

 

[Casp]

Thanks probus. My proofreader did say that my original phrase sounded strange to her, that she had never heard it before and that she just tried to make it sound more "right". The proofreader before her was a real nightmare, she ruined my text, so this time I was real nervous that my new proofreader would do the same. It was probably my instructions about not to change my text too much that kept her from changing that phrase completely...