Caxio
Query about omitting and the singular and plural forms of nouns. 1a. If he is the murderer, I think him, we have done no more than is just.(original) 1b. If he is the murderer, I think him (to be the murderer), (what we have done (to him) merely is just. Question: Which is/are grammatically correct? Do they both have the same meaning? 2a. the collapse of moral certitudes. 2b. the collapse of a moral certitude. 2c. a collapse of a certitude. 2d. the collapses of moral certitudes. Question: Which is/are grammatically correct? Do these noun phrases have the same meaning?
2024년 10월 10일 오전 12:53
답변 · 3
This is tricky! I'm afraid I'm not sure exactly what you're asking with 1. "I think him to be the murderer" is fine, though a bit ungainly. Here it needs to be preceded by "and". Your sentence 1a there is ungrammatical I'm afraid. If he is the murderer, and I think him to be, we have done no more than is just. I can't think of any way of omitting anything from that last phrase 2: all are grammatical. They all mean what they seem to mean? B and c refer just to one moral certitude, and a and d to more than one. The difference between 2a and 2d is subtle. 2a suggests all these moral certitudes have collapsed all as one event, whereas 2d separates them, suggesting that they have collapsed at different times, or with different causes, or something like that. I hope that helps?
2024년 10월 10일 오후 12:06
아직도 답을 찾지 못하셨나요?
질문을 남겨보세요. 원어민이 도움을 줄 수 있을 거예요!