May I say : "We do the planting of native trees" instead of We plant native trees?
May I say : "We do the planting of native trees" instead of "We plant native trees"?
Does one sound more formal than the other?
Thank you!
6 Answers
"We do the planting" sounds a bit funny, I would probably use just "we plant native trees." When in doubt, keep it simple : ) I don't think either is more formal than the other.
If I heard someone say, "We do the planting of native trees," I'd think that someone else usually plants non-native trees, but that person plants the native trees.
If I heard someone say, "We plant native trees," I'd think that they plant native trees and possibly other trees, also.
Both are, grammatically speaking, perfect.
I would agree that the second form is more usual. The first is less frequently heard (hence so many people telling you that it sounds "odd") and is definitely more formal. I have heard it used and I've used that form of phrasing myself.
My answer is only partly related to your question, I think, but I thought you might find it interesting...
We have an expression that is similar. It is usually used to describe a common job that one does at a certain place (like your home, your job, your church, or whatever). It is used only with general and fairly well-recognized activities though; so, "the planting" is okay, but "the planting of the native trees" will not work.
The general formula is...
{person or persons} {conjugated form of "to do"} [all] the {activity} around here.
.
Examples:
John does the cleaning around here.
I do all the window washing around here.
Well, when she worked here, she did all the mortgage paperwork.
Jessica used to do all the event planning around here.
I'm the gardener. I do all the planting around here.
.
A variation can be done using "to handle" instead of "to do."
She used to handle all the mortgage paperwork.
If you want to be more formal you could say "We are responsible for the planting of native trees." But they're right, it sounds odd with "do".
The second one is good. The first one sounds odd.
