# Please help me rephrase a sentence. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806 "2016-01-11T13:21:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/1 "2016-01-11T13:21:12Z")
Hi I’m having trouble understanding this sentence: “The seasons are a result the 23.5 degree inclination of Earth’s rotational axis in relation to the plane around which it orbits the Sun.” What does “it” refer to? Is it earth or earth’s rotational axis? Please help me rephrase this sentence. I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/2 "2016-01-11T13:43:53Z")
Earth, since it orbits the sun. Possibly a way to rephrase it would be something like; “The Earth does not orbit the sun rotating perpendicular to it, its rotational axis is at a 23.5 degree angle to it, which results in seasonal differences.” [Wiki pic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/AxialTiltObliquity.png) showing the dif between the rotational axis and the axis perpendicular to orbit. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/3 "2016-01-11T13:58:35Z")
It isn’t really clear from the original sentence, but the 23.5 degrees is between the rotation axis of the Earth (i.e. the line between the north pole and the south pole) and the _normal_ to the plane in which the Earth’s orbit around the sun lies (i.e. the plane in which a line between the sun and the earth would always be part of). ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/4 "2016-01-11T22:19:14Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Earth, since it orbits the sun. Possibly a way to rephrase it would be something like; > > “The Earth does not orbit the sun rotating perpendicular to it, its rotational axis is at a 23.5 degree angle to it, which results in seasonal differences.” > > [Wiki pic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/AxialTiltObliquity.png) showing the dif between the rotational axis and the axis perpendicular to orbit. Thanks Mr. Kobayashi. Very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/5 "2016-01-11T22:20:24Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > It isn’t really clear from the original sentence, but the 23.5 degrees is between the rotation axis of the Earth (i.e. the line between the north pole and the south pole) and the _normal_ to the plane in which the Earth’s orbit around the sun lies (i.e. the plane in which a line between the sun and the earth would always be part of). Thanks leahcim. ---
**Author:** ![yearofglad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b782af/32.png) [@yearofglad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yearofglad)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/6 "2016-01-11T22:26:46Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > Earth, since it orbits the sun. Possibly a way to rephrase it would be something like; > > “The Earth does not orbit the sun rotating perpendicular to it, its rotational axis is at a 23.5 degree angle to it, which results in seasonal differences.” > > [Wiki pic](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/AxialTiltObliquity.png) showing the dif between the rotational axis and the axis perpendicular to orbit. I dunno, this sentence uses “it” to refer to the sun in the first clause, then “its rotational axis” to refer to the Earth’s rotational axis at the beginning of the second clause, and then “it” at the end of the second clause to refer to the sun again. Also, I believe the first comma should be a semicolon. But I like the general idea. “Earth does not orbit the sun while rotating perpendicular to it; rather, the Earth’s rotational axis is at a 23.5° angle to the sun, which results in seasonal differences.” ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/7 "2016-01-11T22:31:42Z")
> [@yearofglad](#): > > I dunno, this sentence uses “it” to refer to the sun in the first clause, then “its rotational axis” to refer to the Earth’s rotational axis at the beginning of the second clause, and then “it” at the end of the second clause to refer to the sun again. Also, I believe the first comma should be a semicolon. But I like the general idea. > > “Earth does not orbit the sun while rotating perpendicular to it; rather, the Earth’s rotational axis is at a 23.5° angle to the sun, which results in seasonal differences.” Does it have to be one sentence? “The axis of the Earth’s rotation is not perpendicular to its orbit around the sun, but is off by approximately 23.5 degrees. This ‘tilt’ results in seasonal changes.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/8 "2016-01-11T22:51:29Z")
If you need to keep it similar to the original: “The seasons are a result of the 23.5 degree inclination of Earth’s rotational axis in relation to the plane in which Earth orbits the Sun.” Earth wouldn’t orbit **around** the plane, but **in** it. And the Earth going around the Sun is implicit in “orbit”. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-rephrase-a-sentence/742806/9 "2016-01-11T23:31:14Z")
> [@yearofglad](#): > > I dunno, this sentence uses “it” to refer to the sun in the first clause, then “its rotational axis” to refer to the Earth’s rotational axis at the beginning of the second clause, and then “it” at the end of the second clause to refer to the sun again. Also, I believe the first comma should be a semicolon. But I like the general idea. > > “Earth does not orbit the sun while rotating perpendicular to it; rather, the Earth’s rotational axis is at a 23.5° angle to the sun, which results in seasonal differences.” Yeah, too many ‘its’ in retrospect, admittedly made more sense in my head. Hopefully you got the gist, though.