Are these sentences natural? Feb 14

[Musicgold]

Hi,

Are the following sentences natural to a native ear?

1. I don’t’ know how it might have been in 1970s. ( we were talking about the tradition of Valentine’s Day)

2. No that is not soap, it is just the sanitizer.

3. At our firm, there was never such a question as to he should be allowed to manage the project.

Thanks,
MG.

[Luschen]

Hi, the first two sound natural to me. The third I would rewrite as :

"At our firm, there was never a question as to whether he should be allowed to manage the project."

[Allifathima]

Luschen,
Please guide me how to use 'as to' and 'as to whether'.
Please explain with some examples so that I can understand.
Thanks.

[E2e4]

I also wondered as to whom to ask the same question.

I am not sure as to whether one would know the answer or not.

At length, the best is to wait for a teacher.

[Luschen]

In your sentence, I think "as to" must be used with a gerund to be grammatically correct. For your sentence, this would be : "At our firm, there was never a question as to his being allowed to manage the project." This sounds a bit awkward to me, and using "as to" like this always sounds quite formal. You can also use it with a regular noun - "There was never a question as to his role on the project." This usage sounds much more natural to me. I think in most of these cases "as to" can be replace by "of" - "At our firm, there was never a question of his being allowed to manage the project." The phrase "as to whether" is an idiom used to describe a question or decision or choice. "He had to decide as to whether he should go or stay home." "He had to choose as to whether he should go or stay home." "He questioned as to whether he should go or stay home." Generally it can {and in my opinion, should} just be replaced by "whether". So your sentence would be fine as "At our firm, there was never such a question whether he should be allowed to manage the project." Usually the choice comes between deciding to use "whether" or "if"
Here is an interesting article about when to use whether and when to use if.

http://gtotd.blogspot.com/2007/09/whether-versus-if.html