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A is taken…

  1. …necessary for B
  2. …as necessary for B
  3. …to be necessary for B

The most and least popular ones on the web are respectively 2 and 3. On Google Ngram, 1 is the most popular, even though it has recently lost its place to 2, and 3 is again the least popular.

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Which one is the best? Why? Or does it really matter?

An example for #1:

an arrangement has been made with a third party where the third party has confirmed that the share has been located and measures have been taken necessary for a reasonable expectation that settlement can be effected when due. Source

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  • 5
    Refine your Google Ngram searches to was taken necessary / was taken as necessary / was taken to be necessary. There will be many false positives for 'has taken necessary steps' etc on your search. If this fails, repeat with Google searches. If this gives strange results, add this information to your question.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 21:58
  • @EdwinAshworth Here it doesn't give anything with "was". Weird! It says: No valid ngrams to plot! Ngrams not found: was taken necessary The Ngram Viewer is case sensitive. Check your capitalization!
    – Sasan
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 22:06
  • I have to agree with Edwin's earlier comment. In addition, the Ngram displays results without the auxiliary "be" and without the preposition "for". Here's the same Ngram but with "for" included in the results books.google.com/ngrams/…
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 21:19
  • And, I confess, I don't really understand what A is taken necessary for B is supposed to mean. Can you provide a real life example, one less abstract? Not my upvote!
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 21:27
  • @Mari-LouA I found this on the Internet: Our team assists you in every step that needs to be taken necessary for selling a home, including signings of agreements, advertising, open home inspections, ... google.com/…
    – Sasan
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 22:45

1 Answer 1

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+50

A is taken necessary for B

is just wrong. You could have

A is necessary for B

(that is, B requires A) but "taken necessary" doesn't make sense to me.

A taken as necessary for B

is the normal usage for medicine where there are no dosage restrictions; you take the medicine when you need it, as in

One lozenge taken as necessary for a sore throat

but

A is taken to be necessary for B (or A is taken as necessary for B )

means something different - it means that A is generally regarded as a requirement for B, for example

A screwdriver is taken to be necessary to remove a screw.

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9
  • Did you omit "is" intentionally? And why "is taken necessary" is just wrong?
    – Sasan
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 21:59
  • oops -yes, that's a typo. Thanks for spotting it :).
    – JerryTheC
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 22:03
  • 2
    @Sasan 'Is taken necessary' doesn't work, just like 'is seen necessary'. 'Is considered necessary', 'is deemed necessary', and 'is felt necessary' can all be used with the 'to be' omitted. 'Is regarded necessary' doesn't sound idiomatic. English verbs don't behave in logical ways: they're idiosyncratic.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 22:08
  • 'A is taken as necessary for B' also has the sense 'A is taken as being necessary for B'.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 22:12
  • @EdwinAshworth I tried all of them with "for" just to avoid the false positives that you mentioned. There were none for "taken necessary for". It can be found in google books and other sources on the web, though. Why so?
    – Sasan
    Commented Jun 24, 2017 at 22:20

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