Thursday, November 29, 2007

Conducive for What?

I've heard people describe certain places as "conducive." Let's say they're talking about their study areas and they say, "My study area is conducive." Much as I admire the use of vocabulary, we never just describe something as "conducive."

The word conducive means "ideal for a certain situation." As such, it doesn't work as an adjective on it's own. For the word to make sense, it has to be attached to the situation it is describing. If you say, "My study area is conducive," the meaning of your sentence is unclear because you didn't say what your study area is conducive for or why your study area is conducive. The correct way of using the word would be, "My study area is conducive for working silently." Or, you can use the word to say something negative, "My study area is not conducive for work because I share it with my younger brother who always makes a lot of noise."

This rainy weather is conducive for sleep.

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