I think some special occasions like weddings or anniversaries...

[Silverobama]

Is my italic sentence natural?

I think some special occasions like weddings or anniversaries have become too commercial because people use them to earn money and giving gifts have become an obligation.

Context: In China, people often throw weddings or other anniversaries to celebrate anything as a way to earn money and it seems that we must give gifts. I think such occasions are very commercial nowadays.

 

[teechar]

giving gifts

Which pronoun does this equate to?

Context: In China, people often throw use weddings or other anniversaries to celebrate anything as a way to earn money

 

[Silverobama]

Which pronoun does this equate to?

I want to say that "and giving gifts to people who organize weddings or anniversaries" have become an obligation, something we must do but in the past we could choose not to give a gift or money in such occasions. When someone who's invited to someone's graduation party, for example, he or she didn't necessarily need to buy a gift in the past but now they have to. I think this is only happening in my country.

 

[teechar]

No. Focus on my question. Which pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, they, we) can substitute for "giving gifts"?

 

[Silverobama]

No. Focus on my question. Which pronoun (I, you, he, she, it, they, we) can substitute for "giving gifts"?

Sorry, I didn't understand your question but now I do. It should be "it", so the sentence should be:

.....and giving gifts has become an obligation.

Please help me with my italic sentence when you're not busy.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think some special occasions, like such as weddings or anniversaries, have become too commercial. because People use them to earn get money and giving gifts have has become an obligation.

See above.

 

[SoothingDave]

"Commercial" is not the right word. No one is selling or marketing anything.

Maybe they're too "materialistic." Or the people are just plain greedy.

 

[teechar]

"Commercial" is not the right word.

It works for me. It relates to an activity/event that is used for making money.

 

[Silverobama]

"Commercial" is not the right word. No one is selling or marketing anything.

Maybe they're too "materialistic." Or the people are just plain greedy.

Well, "commercial" is the right word because this is how Unlock 3 (Page 95) uses it. I didn't provide this in the OP because my sentence has nothing to do with this column; the sentence is just my opinion.

Unlock is based on the Cambridge English Corpus and it's very reliable among learners in and around the world. I don't think professors who wrote and edited this book would make such a mistake or even if they did, they would correct those mistakes immediately.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've realised that I'm not sure whether "people" in your original sentence refers to the people whose birthday/anniversary it is, or the people who make money out of cards/presents etc. If you're talking about the person having a birthday/anniversary celebration, then I now think "commercial" is the wrong word. If you're referring to businesses who make money out of such things, then "commercial" is exactly the right word.

When I wrote my first response, I assumed you were talking about the people who were celebrating their birthday or anniversary, which is why I changed "earn" to "get". I thought you meant that people ask for money on their birthday or anniversary. However, I now think you're talking about businesses who take advantage of such celebrations to earn money - in that case, "earn" was correct.
In your original, I would change "people" to "businesses".

 

[SoothingDave]

View attachment 6087

Well, "commercial" is the right word because this is how Unlock 3 (Page 95) uses it. I didn't provide this in the OP because my sentence has nothing to do with this column; the sentence is just my opinion.

Unlock is based on the Cambridge English Corpus and it's very reliable among learners in and around the world. I don't think professors who wrote and edited this book would make such a mistake or even if they did, they would correct those mistakes immediately.

You were talking about greedy people who throw themselves parties to extort gifts from their friends and family.

That's not "commercial."