Swan says that when we want to emphasize a verb we can use the structure like:
what … do
For instance,
What he does is to write a book.
My question is about the sentence:
What the Standard says is … 'something what it says'.
Is the sentence gramatically correct? I mean shouldn't have we said
What the Standard does is to say the … 'something what it says'.
instead?
Best Answer
One would avoid saying/writing that because it's redundant. Using "does" indicates an overall effect or achievement. The following variant using "say" is sometimes found, but is also considered poor style because they are too wordy:
Attributing the action of "saying <something>" to inanimate objects like a book or a standard is mostly informal. It's discouraged in formal registers. Here's an example:
Better (still informal): The Standard says that doors should be a certain size.
Best (or "Formal"): According to the Standard, doors should be a certain size.
Here are some more examples:
Poor: In her article, what Thompson said is (that) all good things come from sincerity. ("what" and "is" are wordy)
Better: In her article, Thompson said, "all good things come from sincerity." (Direct quote.)
Better: In her article, Thompson said that all good things come from sincerity. (Only if it's a paraphrase.)
Poor: In her article, what Thompson did was (to) summarize the nine major belief systems.
Better: In her article, Thompson summarized the nine major belief systems.
The proper use of the what...do form is rare. Here's an example of it's proper usage:
Note how the above (fictional) sentence indicates what the paper "did" in terms of it's overall effect rather than state what the paper was written about. The following actual comment found on Facebook also uses the form for good emphasis:
1. (Comment, January 2, 2011 at 3:09pm, by Anthony Rosas, on TakeFlight Company facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/TKFLT/posts/143105472410827.)