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In order for us easier to perceive non-humans have agency...

Is this sentence correct? If not, what's the correct one? I am confused where I should put the word easier in that sentence.

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  • Hello Cit Cat. I agree that the word easier is not being used correctly in this sentence. However, without knowing what you intend the sentence to mean, I don't know if I can help you.
    – Benjamin Kuykendall
    Commented Mar 2, 2019 at 4:47

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"Easier" is an adjective. The word "easier", in particular, is almost never used as an adverb. Colloquially, you could say something like, "It'll go easier if you do it this way." But if you try to use "easier" as a universal substitute for "more easily", you end up sounding uneducated. You need to use the adverb, "more easily":

In order for us more easily to perceive that non-humans have agency, ...

or

In order for us to more easily perceive that non-humans have agency, ...

The addition of "that" is not absolutely necessary but makes the sentence flow better. Without it, the reader's first impulse is to assume that "non-humans" is the object of "perceive". That this is not the case becomes clear pretty quickly, but the addition of "that" ensures that the confusion does not occur in the first place.

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  • Your statement in the beginning of the answer is incorrect. See for example 2. With little effort; easily: success that came too easy. easy: adv. 2. With little effort; easily: success that came too easy.
    – ib11
    Commented Mar 3, 2019 at 7:12
  • @ib11: The fact that "easy" is sometimes used as an adverb doesn't mean it can always be used as an adverb. The word "easier", in particular, is almost never used as an adverb. Colloquially, you could say something like, "It'll go easier if you do it this way." But if you try to use "easier" as a universal substitute for "more easily", you end up sounding uneducated.
    – hguler
    Commented Mar 3, 2019 at 16:19
  • Thanks. That's good, and I don't debate it. But from the OP it seemed to me that it is colloquial. But who knows. No telling without the context. Could you just correct your first line to include this datum on the use of "easier". And I also recommend to add your comment from my earlier answer: The meaning of the word "agency" in the original question is the one explained here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agency_(sociology).
    – ib11
    Commented Mar 3, 2019 at 20:57

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