Re: [Lingo] Complex sentense

["Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com>]

Nguyễn Vũ Hưng writes:

 > > as a simpler rephrasing of the factual content.  But it would be very
 > > unusual to actually write or say it this way.
 > 
 > Can you point out which part of the sentence is unusual?

No part is unusual.  The whole thing is.  More on that below.

 > > The translation into Japanese would vary dramatically depending
 > > on the speaker's relationship to "you",

 > "You", in this sentence, is the project manager who is managing the
 > project.

Yeah, that's obvious from the content of the sentence.  The problem
is, who is the *speaker*?  Here are some possible combinations of
speaker and continuation for the *original* sentence:

Accountant:  How much more are you going to need to complete
    project?
Hands-off boss:  So you're pretty much done.  How's the project look?
Trouble-shooting boss:  So you're in trouble, right?  How far along is
    the project, and how much do you need to get it done?
Angry boss I:  And you haven't done JACK[1]!  You're FIRED!
Angry boss II:  And you haven't done JACK!  We need this done, but all
    expenditures from now on need my approval.  GOT THAT?!
Happy boss I:  So you've come in under budget.  GREAT job!
Happy boss II:  See?  You can do it.  OK, that $2000 consultant was a
    big mistake, but you came in under budget after all, and only two
    weeks late.

In contrast, only the accountant would use the rephrasing I proposed.
And it's unlikely that an accountant would be involved in this, except
as an advisor to the boss.

 > > you've spent US $22000 of your budget to complete work
 > > that you originally expected would cost US $24000.
 > 
 > -> "that you (originally) expected *to* cost US $24000" is the correct
 > and simpler English?

It's correct and simpler.  "Would" is also correct, and expresses the
nuance that "you" felt the $24,000 estimate was imprecise, and the
speaker knew that and accepts the imprecision.  If t  Linguistically
speaking, "would" puts the clause about expectation into the
subjunctive mood.  If you don't know what that means, it's English's
way of expressing doubt or indeterminism in a statement (more or less
-- David can probably give a more exact definition).  Somewhat like
Japanese "deshou" forms.


Footnotes: 
[1]  "Haven't done jack [shit]" is an expression of extreme contempt
for the performance of somebody who has failed at a task, often for
lack of effort, sometimes for lack of talent or skill.  You probably
won't see it in a management text or problem set posted on the web. :-)