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yoshi77lucky
8 Feb 2022

  • Japanisch
  • Englisch (US)
Frage über Englisch (US)

Was ist der Unterschied zwischen ①
The future of mankind and the world depends on the ability of individuals to learn to live in harmony with others. und ②
On the ability of individuals to learn to live in harmony with others depends the future of mankind and the world.

?Du kannst auch einfach Beispielsätze geben.

Though I think sentence① is normal, what kind of situations do you use(write) sentence②?
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capa1508
9 Feb 2022

  • Englisch (US)

@yoshi77lucky first one 100%
Both the sentences mean the complete opposite of each other, but the first one would be correct .

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yoshi77lucky
9 Feb 2022

  • Japanisch
@capa1508 Thanks! Grammatically, is sentence ② incorrect ?
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brent10
10 Feb 2022

  • Englisch (US)

Structure of (2) is poetic:
On the wings of a snow-white dove
He sends His pure sweet love
Structure (2) can be used in prose if the first clause is simple:
On our courage depends the future of the world.

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capa1508
10 Feb 2022

  • Englisch (US)

@brent10 hmm, all the grammar is right but it doesn’t make sense. It’s like saying:
I’m starving because I havnt eaten food

I havnt eaten food because I’m starving


(The first sentence being the first and the second being the second etc)

It just doesn’t make sense to not eat if your hungry its the same thing

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brent10
10 Feb 2022

  • Englisch (US)

@capa1508 Oh, I see the difficulty you are having now.

Both sentences are built around verb phrase "depends on," and there is a cause (noun phrase) on one side of 'depends on', and there is an effect (noun phrase) on the other side of 'depends on.' The "on" tells us which of the two noun phrases is the cause. So, "on the ability of individuals" is the cause and "the future of mankind" is the effect.

Think of it this way: both sentences have an underlying structure like "some effect depends on some cause." The first sentence exactly follows that formula. The second sentence is structured like "on some cause depends some effect."

I think the second sentence is only possible because we can move "on" around to mark which noun phrase is the cause. Yes, this is confusing, since English speakers are always expecting "depends" to always be followed by "on." So, we are at first baffled by this sentence, so we look for the verb ... ah "depends" ... now where has the writer hidden the "on" ... it must here somewhere ... oh ... he put the "on" right at the beginning.

Well, look at the many minutes we have spent thinking about what the future of the world depends on! I guess that is the writer's purpose -- to arrest our attention and make us think about the question: "On what does the future of the world depend?"

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brent10
10 Feb 2022

  • Englisch (US)

@capa1508 I think we could make this rule: If an English sentence starts with a preposition, first look for the verb; after finding the verb, the thing that follows the preposition is the object, and after the verb you will find the subject.
E.g.: "To the victor go the spoils (prizes)" So, "go" is the verb; "go to the victor" is the verb and object; "prizes go to the victor" is the simplified sentence.
Hope this helps -- it helped me to think about it!

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yoshi77lucky
11 Feb 2022

  • Japanisch
@capa1508 @brent10 Thank you for your precious advices!! It was very helpful. Especially, regarding how to read the sentence by native people is what I wanted to know the most since before.

Regarding two sentences that I asked, I guess sentence ① is more natural. But university's entrance examination of greater difficulty level and high qualification test in japan will require the abilities to understand like sentences ② instantly, even if it isn't natual structure.

Thanks!!
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen ① The future of mankind and the world depends on the ability of individuals to learn to live in harmony with others. und ② On the ability of individuals to learn to live in harmony with others depends the future of mankind and the world. ?
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