Sometimes I have difficulty with sentences which can seemingly end in more than one way but retain the same meaning.
Namely, I can think of several variations to use and they all sound natural and correct to me:
- This day will be forgotten just like the rest of the ones do.
- This day will be forgotten just like the rest of the ones get.
- This day will be forgotten just like the rest of the ones become.
Are they all equally correct? Or is there more to it?
Best Answer
Consistent with Jeff Morrow's answer, the following four options are grammatically correct:
There is a difference in meaning between "are" and "were". "Are" implies that all days will eventually be forgotten. For example, "yesterday" might not be forgotten yet, but the speaker is certain that it inevitably will be forgotten. "Were" might be specific to a set of days being discussed. "Were" implies that those days are already in the past, and that those days have already been forgotten.
"The rest" implies "of the days", because the beginning of the sentence mentions "this day" as being a sample item of an implied collection. In this context, "the rest" refers to the remaining items in the implied collection.
Although the pronoun "ones" is grammatically correct, it is not the best choice in this context. "Ones" is often used in formal speech to refer to subjects who can make choices, such as people. Except in unusual metaphors, "days" do not make choices.
A pronoun is usually a shorter substitute for a noun. In formal speech, if the pronoun is not shorter than the noun it replaces, it is usually better to just use the noun. (There are exceptions when the pronoun is consistently used in multiple parts of a parallel expression, or when the pronoun is used to generalize a specific example, or when the pronoun is used as part of word-play.)