The phrase "a commendable effort to" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when someone makes a noteworthy attempt at something, for example: I commend the company for its commendable effort to reduce its carbon emissions.
The Family Health Plus initiative is a commendable effort to expand health care for low-income workers.
It is a commendable effort to educate about and generate discussion of a subject with far-reaching implications for teenagers and society as a whole.
Peck makes a commendable effort to get as close to the truth as possible, incorporating many details from historical investigator Ludo de Witte's The Assassination of Lumumba.
It was a commendable effort to save time, but it also was a violation of the rules, and it cost Hammond a two-stroke penalty.
It's a commendable effort to make history less dry, but it leaves you unexpectedly longing for a dispassionate guide — a professor in a chair, pointing out what's new and juicy in the account.
The court, reversing a lower court ruling, said that the district court judge had made "a commendable effort to thread the needle" but that the ruling allowing the evidence was flawed.
As for food, Barley Vine makes a commendable effort at keeping its prices affordable.
Beyond its appearance, Kafe Teria has two things that set it apart: its parentage and its commendable effort to reach a wider audience.
The city's version displays Mayor Bloomberg's commendable effort to keep Coney Island from being overwhelmed by oceanfront condominiums.
Instead, there was commendable effort to think deeply, and see what would be the most effective course of action in responding to the terrorist attacks of September 11.
In her review of "What Do Women Want?," by Daniel Bergner (June 16), Elaine Blair's commendable effort to provide insight into the complexities (real or imagined) of female sexuality results in more questions than answers.
