"we have provided him the means of his spiritual liberation."

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Scott
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"we have provided him the means of his spiritual liberation."

Post by Scott »

Is the following sentence grammatically incorrect:
We have provided him the means of his spiritual liberation.

Why or why not?
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Donica Deysel
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Post by Donica Deysel »

Yes its incorrect.

We have provided him the means to his spiritual liberation instead of the means of his spiritual liberation i think wil be correct
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Juliet+1
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Post by Juliet+1 »

I vote for "correct." "The means of" takes a noun or noun phrase, and "his spiritual liberation" is a noun phrase, so it's okay. I would remove the word "his" because that would be understood, but the sentence is not incorrect as is.
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Janet Kimetto
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Post by Janet Kimetto »

Yes. I vote for "incorrect." I'd write it as "We have provided him with the means [to] his spiritual liberation."
A means [to] an end.

I tried digging further and I came across the explanation:

"means of = a type of" (or a part of)

So you'd say; Some people prefer running as a means of exercise, Air is the fastest means of transport, means of communication, means of entertainment, etc.

"means to = a method to achieve"
“Be wary. Be clever. Be good.”
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