Please check my sentences (4)

hirashin

Sempai

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8 Apr 2004

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• 15 Mar 2015

• #1

Thank you all for the help.

I'd like you to check my sentences again.

Which would sound right?
1a) Carpenters in those days built this tall wooden tower without using any nails.
1b) In those days, carpenters built this tall wooden tower without using any nails.
1c) Carpenters at that time built this tall wooden tower without using any nails.
1d) At that time, carpenters built this tall wooden tower without using any nails.

Do both sound right?
2a) They must have known the nature of wood very well.
2b) They must have been very familiar with the nature of wood.

Would both be used interchangeably?
3a) My parents have been married for thirty years.
3b) My parents have been married thirty years.

Would both be used interchangeably?
4a) Tom and Jane got married on March 9.
4b) Tom and Jane got married March 9.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

WonkoTheSane

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12 May 2013

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• 15 Mar 2015

• #2

All of the 1s sound wrong because 'At that time' would usually not be used with 'this' as opposed to a group of objects.

At that time carpenters built tall wooden towers without using any nails.

Carpenters built this tall wooden tower without any nails.

 

hirashin

Sempai

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8 Apr 2004

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• 15 Mar 2015

• Thread starter
• #3

Thank you for the help, WonkoTheSane.

WonkoTheSane said:

All of the 1s sound wrong because 'At that time' would usually not be used with 'this' as opposed to a group of objects.

At that time carpenters built tall wooden towers without using any nails.

Carpenters built this tall wooden tower without any nails.

Click to expand...

Oh, I didn't know that. How about this? Does it still sound wrong?
(1e) Carpenters more than one thousand years ago built this tower without using any nails. They must have known the nature of wood very well.

Hirashin

 

WonkoTheSane

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12 May 2013

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• 15 Mar 2015

• #4

It's a bit awkward to my ear. I'd put a comma after 'carpenters' and another after 'ago.' To my ear this keeps 'carpenters built' together.

I could be wrong, though, in terms of correct grammar. This is just what sounds right to me.

 

hirashin

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8 Apr 2004

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• 15 Mar 2015

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• #5

Thank you for the further help, Wonko.
Then how about this?
(1f) More than one thousand years ago, people built this tower without using nails.

Hirashin

 

WonkoTheSane

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• 16 Mar 2015

• #6

Sounds fine to me.

 

Majestic

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• 18 Mar 2015

• #7

Yes, I agree. Your 1(f) sounds the best.

The problem with 1(a~d), is that there is a broad generalization ("carpenters in those days") coupled with a very specific action: the building of the tower. The two together don't necessarily render the sentence incomprehensible, but they do not harmonize well. There is something about it that feels funny - the reader doesn't quite know if you are making a general statement about the technology of the time, or if you are showing respect for the specific technique used in this tower.

 

hirashin

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• 18 Mar 2015

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• #8

Thanks for the help, Majestic. Do you think I should say "more than a thousand" instead of "more than one thousand"?

Hirashin

 

Majestic

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• 18 Mar 2015

• #9

Either is absolutely fine. My preference would be "more than one thousand", but this is entirely a point of personal preference

 

hirashin

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• 18 Mar 2015

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• #10

Thanks.