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1.In regard to the group formation process, I happen to have some advice that you might want to take a squint at.

Above is a sentence I wrote in my letter to the club chairman. In one of our after-class meetings, he made us team up for a group project. But as it turned out, the whole process didn't go as smoothly as he thought it would be. So I wrote a letter to propose some ideas that might help to improve it.

However, I am not quite sure about the expression in bold. Does it sound natural to you? If not, I'd like to ask if any of the following options is acceptable in this context.

2.In regard to the process of getting into groups, ...

3.In regard to the process of putting groups together, ...

4.In regard to the process of assembling into groups, ...

5.In regard to the assembling of groups, ...

If none of the above seems right to you, please feel free to provide your own options.

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    In regard to is a bit stilted in what seems to be a fairly relaxed context (or "take a squint at" is overly casual), but it's not incorrect. As for 1-5, they're all correct to my ear, which one to pick depends on how formal you want to be. Mar 19, 2021 at 13:14
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    What @MaciejStachowski: in regard to is a relatively "high / formal register", but take a squint at is "quirky / colloquial / facetious", so quite apart from any other faults, the text "unidiomatically" mixes high and low registers. Mar 19, 2021 at 15:49
  • @@MaciejStachowski and @FumbleFingers thank you both for your advice! I sure will keep it in mind and correct the sentence as you suggested.
    – Underwood
    Mar 20, 2021 at 11:30

1 Answer 1

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Example 3 has a different meaning from the other four, which are similar from one another.

'the process of putting groups together' involves forming a larger group from smaller ones.

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