for us to condone such actions

Question

a. It will damage our country's reputation for us to condone such actions.
b. For us to condone such actions will damage our country's reputation.
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c. It will damage our country's reputation that we should condone such actions.
d. That we should condone such actions will damage our country's reputation.
Are the above sentences grammatically correct and meaningful?
They all express the same idea:
If we condone such actions, it will damage our country's reputation.
In one case we have 'for to' and in the other 'that... '.
To me they all look grammatical but somewhat awkward, I am not sure about them... I think the second set is a lot less natural than the first.

Prime Mover · Answer

a) and b) are closest, but you need "would" rather than "will", as the sentences express a hypothetical. The speaker's subtext is that the intention is not to condone the actions.
a) and b) are then both good, and mean the same thing. It is entirely up to the speaker to decide which to use, although if it were me, form b) has more rhetorical impact: leaving the hammer blow of the conclusion till the end, to ring in the hearer's ears while they stare at him in the shocked silence that precedes the roaring applause.
c) and d) are inferior.

for us to condone such actions

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