0

"It's important to support business, but meal deal vouchers don't substitute for effective public health messaging and measures"

The above excerpt is from a political advert and was ridiculed for its poor grammar and structure today on Twitter. In particular, the use of "don't". Is anyone able to explain exactly why this is inappropriate?

My English isn't perfect and I've been trying to figure out why this is not correct.

EDIT - Here is the tweet

https://twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1280843436657172481

Improve this question
7
  • 2
    Without quoting one or two of the tweets, it is hard to tell what is being criticized. I do not see any grammatical errors. I do not like certain aspects of its style, but that is personal opinion. (For example, I prefer "are not substitutes," but that merely reflects my taste.) More importantly, what is quoted does not make any sense without additional context: why these represent a binary choice is not clear.
    – Jeff Morrow
    Jul 8, 2020 at 17:07
  • Here is the tweet. twitter.com/MattChorley/status/1280843436657172481
    – Harry
    Jul 8, 2020 at 18:07
  • 1
    Stylistically inelegant perhaps, but not ungrammatical.
    – BillJ
    Jul 8, 2020 at 18:19
  • 1
    @Harry What are the criticisms? You do not link to any criticisms. (I do NOT twitter: it seems to make everyone who uses it revert to the intelligence of a six year old.) Please quote one or two.
    – Jeff Morrow
    Jul 8, 2020 at 18:41
  • From what I gather, the use of "Don't + substitute". 1. Don’t substitute is, in my opinion, horrible English. Are no substitute? 2. “Aren’t a substitute” would be my preference
    – Harry
    Jul 8, 2020 at 20:27

0

Reset to default

You must log in to answer this question.

Browse other questions tagged .