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Hye Young
word meaning
1. "Traditional bifocals could become a thing of the past with the invention of electronic glasses that automatically adjust to let their wearer view objects at different distances". Can I put CAN into this sentence, become : ... that CAN automatically adjust... Which is more natural in English?
2. "However, the chemical modification of CpGs makes them prone to mutation themselves, and with time they are eliminated from neutrally evolving sequences". WITH TIME = GRADUALLY???
Oct 16, 2016 1:34 PM
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Answers · 3
Both sentences are fine as they are. I wouldn't put 'can' into the first sentence - it wouldn't be wrong at all but sounds less professional somehow. The second sentence doesn't need changing at all but as Susanne said 'over time' also works.
October 16, 2016
1. You can insert “can”, but there’s no reason to - it’s superfluous information. If they “automatically adjust” then they also “can automatically adjust”.
2. "with time" means "as time passes". Whether the process is gradual (by degrees) I don't know. I would assume it is.
October 16, 2016
Yes! Another way to put it would be 'over time' or 'after some time passes'
October 16, 2016
