Julian Assange plans to walk out of Ecuador’s embassy a free man, avoiding arrest and extradition to Sweden to face questioning about sexual assault and rape allegations. (The Age) ‘A free man’ gives me these two possible interpretations. [A] ‘A free man’ seems to be a result predicative adjunct. So the sentence means: Julian Assange … Read more
Source: p 102, How the Law Works, by Gary Slapper With so many rules and slightly different interpretations of them in thousands of cases, it is not always easy to see which interpretation of the law a court will give in your case. This uncertainty is increased by the ability of the judiciary to select … Read more
[i] Well, as we reported earlier the chief executive of the Dutch airport where the flight departed says 27 Australians were on board. (ABC news) [ii] There was where Vadinho used to sit on the wall, at his feet the sea dotted with fishing skiffs. (Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands, translated by Alfred A.Knoptf) … Read more
i) What’s that over there? ii) People can take their pets there. iii) I believe one of the boys there thinks I’m pretty. (All three are from COCA) iv) Let’s go and see the pets there. Does there function as an adjective in [iii]? Over there in [i] seems to modify pronoun that; there in … Read more
In my recently concluded test, I was asked to identify the sentence pattern of this sentence: It stands tall I split it as: It | stands | tall S V A For me, “tall” is an additional information and if removed, the sentence still makes sense to me. However, my teacher marked it wrong and … Read more
[i] Inside, a room had been turned into a grotto with a table for two … (COCA) [ii] He takes a seat at a table for two… (COCA) [iii] I’d like to book a table for two. (Naver.com) In the first and second examples, for two seems like to modify the previous noun phrase. But … Read more
"I guess Gilbert Blythe will be in school today," said Diana. "He’s been visiting his cousins over in New Brunswick all summer and he only came home Saturday night. He’s AW’FLY handsome, Anne. And he teases the girls something terrible. He just torments our lives out." –– L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables I … Read more
Can we use two active verbs for a sentence? For example in #1: Special care is taken to extract irregular borders during the modeling. Special care is taken when extracting irregular borders during the modeling. Which is correct, 1 or 2? Answer Either sentence is fine. But they mean different things: Special care is taken … Read more
South African track star Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail over the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The decision was made after a four-day hearing, with the magistrate ruling the prosecution had not made a strong enough case that Pistorius would try to flee the country. He’ll next face court on June the fourth. … Read more
I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. (Harry Potter) I’ve heard, in English, adjuncts cannot be put between verbs and their complements. For instance: *I think he knows usually everything that goes on here. If this is right, shouldn’t ‘more or less’ be put after ‘everything’? Answer It … Read more
