Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

MiMi

Member Since

September 22, 2011

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

3

Bio

Latest Comments

Just because..., (it) doesn’t mean...

  • September 22, 2011, 11:19pm

Remove the apostrophe from 'doesn't'.

“Just because I was mean to you, it does not mean you should be mean to me.” OR
“Just because I was mean to you, does not mean you should be mean to me.” OR
“Just because I was mean to you, that does not mean you should be mean to me.”

In the first, what subject is "it" referring to? It's like the "they" in "they say you should wait thirty minutes before swimming after a meal." Ambiguous and airy. In the third, "that" is similarly vague.

The second is preferable, and to me, reads better both with "doesn't" and "does not".