Discussion Groups / English Usage / July 2009

Sentence a) seems literally untrue, so far as it suggests
that the applicant determines suitability for employment.
In "real life" the employer's decision whether or not to
offer work indicates the decision is entirely his (as
sentence b) reaffirms.)

Sentence b) cannot possibly be a "meaning" of the first
sentence so far as it includes topics unmentioned in the
first sentence.  Sentence b) seems also clumsily wordy.
You may make faster progress if you first remove all
needless words, then review to see if the text says what
you really mean.

In the English I'm used to, that would be "it's for you to decide...",
not "that's...".

For me, the sentence would need "help you" between "to" and "decide".

I don't find the original sentence ambiguous, but I would stumble over
it if I came across it because it's not well formed.

There are two different meanings conflated here:  to enable you to see,
and to enable us to see.  I would guess the former is what's probably
intended:  "That's for you, to help you decide whether you are a
suitable candidate."  In other words, look it over and don't waste our
time unless you're sure you're right for this job.

I'd go further and say the sentence is ungrammatical with or without
that comma.  However, you could add a comma or colon to make it mean (a)
unambiguously, though still awkwardly:

"That's for you to decide, whether you are a suitable candidate."

¬R

"It for you....  " sounds better to me.

I'd say a and b are both valid/

John Kane, Kingston ON Canada

The sentence is not sound as cast.  The problem is that the antecedent of
"that" is unclear.  The only possible context in which it might stand--
and this is rather contorted--is if the speaker had just produced
something, a tangible item or an idea, that would be of controlling
relevance to the person being addressed in that person's decision
process.  As I say, contorted.

A more natural casting would be something like:

 "Whether you are a suitable candidate--well, that's for you to decide."

Or

 "Are you a suitable candidate?  That's for you to decide."

Or any of a number of like forms.  The crux is that in the set phrase
"that's for you to decide", the antecedent of "that" must clearly be the
question of whether the person in question is a suitable candidate.