negligence

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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navit
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negligence

Post by navit »

Which are correct:

1) He was dismissed because of his negligence doing his work.

2) He was dismissed because of his negligence in doing his work.

3) He was dismissed because of his negligence misplacing important documents.
4) He was dismissed because of his negligence in misplacing important documents.

I don't think '3' and '4' make much sense. He was not supposed to misplace important documents.

I think '2' is correct, but I suppose '1' might be acceptable in informal English.

Many thanks.
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Alan
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Re: negligence

Post by Alan »

Only 2 & 4 are really acceptable, although 2 is semantically vague ('in doing' would be better replaced by a more precise locution, e.g. 'regarding').
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