Expert: Leslie - 8/17/2006

Question
Leslie-san, thank you so much for responding out of your busy schedule. I have a couple of questions to understand some of the points you raised further. May I have your comments when you have time. Thank you.

1.  ... fiscal year ending[not ended] March ...

My understanding is that if the date (May 31, 2006 in this case) is a past date, we use "ended," and if it is a future date, "ending." Am I wrong?

2.  increasing[not increased]

I wrote "increased" because the sentence goes: we received ..., increased ..., and sold ....
For your information, "support from financial institutions" means "forgiveness from banks" and it has nothing to do with "a third-party allocation of ..."

Best regards,
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Followup To

Question -
Leslie-san, would you do me a favor again. Would you correct the following message (a message by a corporate executive) from an English perspective (I am a Japanese. Sorry it is a bit too long):

ABC Group has strived vigorously to revitalize our operations since the quasi-governmental Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan decided to provide assistance to us in December 2004.

In the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, we received support from financial institutions, increased capital through a third-party allocation of shares to sponsors and sold treasury shares. At the same time, we positioned ourselves to concentrate on our main-stay businesses of home building and renovation, and took many of the steps necessary to enhance our presence in the industry. As a result, as of September 30 we had cleared away our state of liabilities in excess of assets, and thanks to various measures, our housing business was back on the right track in the second half with orders level surpassing that in the same period of the previous year. Under such circumstances, the IRCJ ceased its assistance to our Group in March, 2006.

In the current fiscal year, we will invest all resources to bolster sales. While increasing our sales force, we will build new model homes, rebuild existing model homes, and construct technology gallerries where visitors can see and experience our advanced technologies, to name a few. These efforts should help us to recover and raise our share in the market.

In June this year, the Basic Law for Housing was enacted and enforced, which calls for quality living in better residential environments. ABC is well-positioned to meet the needs of people and society under the law which govorns all housing-related laws and regulations. We have developed homes featuring 'kura' storage space and earthquake control system 'MGEO' to provide more convenience and safety and homes boasting micro climate design to provide comfortable living in an environmentally-friendly way. I am confident ABC Group has unsurpassed resources to continue to supply the right products at the right times.

While movng out of the restructuring phase and transforming into a premier housing company, we are determined to lay a strong foundation for many years of sustainable growth under our motto "lifelong commitment to sutomers through housing."



Answer -
Ota-san,

You honor me with your request. Please excuse my directness, as I have to complete several projects this morning.

Para 2, line 1: "...fiscal year ending [not ended] March..." (I know this does not make sense, a great deal of English does not make sense.)

Same: increasing [not increased]

Line 2: ...sponsors, [add the comma]
Line 3: "main-stay" might be better stated as "primary business" or "primary income resource"
Line 4: no comma after renovation
Line 5: remove comma after "result" and place after "30".
Line 5: replace "as of" with "by"
Line 7: I am not sure why you said, "Under such circumstances". I might say, "Because of our success".
Line 8: delete comma after March.

Para 2, Line 3. I would delete "to name a few".

Para 3, Line 1-2. Move the clause "which calls for quality living in better residential environments" to after "...Housing". Place commas around the clause
Line 2-3:  I would change the sentence to read, "ABC is well-positioned to supply our customers with what they want within the guidelines of the new law." govorns = governs
Line 7: "...right products at the right time". [no s on time]

Para 4, Line 3 sutomers = customers

Once again, your command of English exceeds that of many of my English speaking students.

I hope I was helpful.

Leslie

Answer
My apologies Ota san for the tardiness of my reply. I did not see your questions until just this minute.

1.  ... fiscal year ending[not ended] March ...
The answer to this question is one of the convoluted rules of English. "Ending" is a gerund, which acts as a noun and a verb. The wording is abbreviated for "the fiscal year ending [on] March...

If a person uses the past tense, then the phrase becomes a clause that says, "...fiscal year [that] ended on March...

Most English speakers do not understand the rule or why the  "ing" form of the verb is better.

2.  increasing[not increased]
Your explanation makes sense; however, I need to look at the sentence to check to see whether "increasing" is also a gerund.

English is a very strange conglomeration of many languages that can sometimes be confusing, even for the native speakers.

Leslie