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After listing some points in my essay I need to say that all they go into a definite concept. What words can I use here?

Here is my complete sentence:

Goals, challenges, self-discovery, satisfaction, new skills – all that sounds intriguing; what is more, it makes into a definite concept – English is a powerful asset that opens lots of doors along the life journey.

I'm questioning the verbal phrase in bold in the following:

..., ..., ..., new skills – all that makes into a definite concept – languages are powerful assets that open lots of doors along the life journey.

or

..., ..., ..., new skills – all that goes into a definite concept – languages are powerful assets that open lots of doors along the life journey.

or

..., ..., ..., new skills – all that flows to a definite concept – languages are powerful assets that open lots of doors along the life journey.

Or do you have any other suggestions? I'd appreciate your help.

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Speaking personally, I would use the verb contribute, and I would also rephrase the section around that verb so as to refer to a plurality of items rather than a singular.

In short, I'd make the sentence look like this:

Goals, challenges, self-discovery, satisfaction, new skills—all those things sound intriguing; what is more, they contribute to a definite concept: English is a powerful asset that opens lots of doors along the life journey.

(I also replaced the final dash with a colon.)


I chose contribute after first ruling out the existing possibilities:

  • That makes into is awkward. Normally, we would say something makes or something is made into. But something makes into isn't at all common, and so it doesn't sound right.

  • Goes into is fine as an expression. Of the existing alternatives, I'd pick this over the others. I just believe that that goes into a definite concept sounds less natural than they contribute to a definite concept. (More on that later.)

  • That flows to is also awkward. If using flow, the more natural preposition would be into. So, that flows into. But it seems a little too metaphorical to me to be used in this particular context. Something that flows into a concept strikes me as unusual. It's not a way I've heaver heard something like this expressed before.

While goes into would have been the version I would have picked from among the three suggested, I felt that contributed to was a bit more natural. Not just because of how it sounds in this context, but because the word contribute itself suggests that there are also other things not mentioned that can be part of the process, albeit perhaps not as significantly.

At least from a semantic point of view, it didn't seem to me as if it's those things listed, and only those things, that form the basis of the concept. (If it is, and that's made more explicit, then goes into—or makes—would sound more natural in context.)


From Merriam-Webster's definition of the sense of contribute I'm using:

intransitive
2 b : to play a significant part in bringing about an end or result
// Many players have contributed to the team's success.

You can certainly have a single thing contribute to something, but since multiple things have already been mentioned, preserving their plurality sounds more natural when they are immediately followed by the verb used to describe the formation of the concept.

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    Thank you! This is the greatest and most intricate answer I've ever gotten. Really helpful. Thank you again!
    – Stacy
    Jul 21, 2019 at 19:55

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