“It is to provide more than 58,000 jobs.”

Common English Blunders, Verbs

I heard this during an NPR news story about a theme park in South Korea.

Problem:
The verb phrase “is to provide” is awkward (at least).

Explanation:
The reporter was discussing the theme park’s projected effect on employment in South Korea. Either she meant to say “will provide” or she left out “projected” (as in “is projected to provide”). If she intentionally left out “projected” so as to sound more sophisticated, she did not achieve her goal (at least not with me).

Solutions:
“It will provide more than 58,000 jobs.”
“It is projected to provide more than 58,000 jobs.”