which form do you prefer?

dumbtosmart   Thu Dec 01, 2005 1:42 pm GMT
-a variety of customer needs
-various customer needs


Of the two, which form do you prefer? which is more natural?
Personally, as a non-native, I like the second one better always.
It sounds more concise.

Besides, the more 'of ' there are, the more I get lost in sentences.
Guest   Thu Dec 01, 2005 8:30 pm GMT
How about "various needs of customers"?
dumbtosmart   Thu Dec 01, 2005 10:43 pm GMT
Hmm..That's fine, I didn't think of that.That sounds most natural to me.
But, for now, I'm more interested in the 'a variety of' and 'various' difference.
Guest   Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:53 pm GMT
I think you'd have to see this in a sentence (or paragraph) before choosing the "more natural" form.
Jim   Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:59 pm GMT
What Guest says is right. You can't make such a judgement without seeing it in context. This is particularly true here because the phrases actully refer to different things. The former refers to the variety the latter to the needs.
Uriel   Fri Dec 02, 2005 4:50 am GMT
Neither is "more correct" than the other; they are simply appropriate to different sentences.