Verbal question you found somewhere else? General issue with idioms or grammar? Random verbal question? These questions belong here.
elCece
Forum Guests
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Sep 04, 2014 3:34 pm
 

Backward construction with modifiers

by elCece Thu Dec 11, 2014 2:07 am


"Under the desk, as discovered by Detective K, was a gun."

"Under the desk, which belongs to the suspect, was a gun."

I want to know whether these constructions are correct.

If the constructi is not 100% correct, is it a RELATIVE ERROR? or is it that the Gmac has not yet used this kinkd of strucute?

RonPurewal
Students
 
Posts: 19744
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
 

Re: Backward construction with modifiers

by RonPurewal Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:07 am

elCece Wrote:
"Under the desk, as discovered by Detective K, was a gun."

"Under the desk, which belongs to the suspect, was a gun."

I want to know whether these constructions are correct.

If the constructi is not 100% correct, is it a RELATIVE ERROR? or is it that the Gmac has not yet used this kinkd of strucute?



sentence #1 is ... not very clear.
it could suggest one of two things:
a/ DK found the gun under the desk.
b/ in some indirect way (e.g., by questioning someone else involved in the situation), DK discovered that the gun was under the desk.)

if this sentence were written by a bad writer, it could reasonably be intended to mean either of these things.

a decent writer, on the other hand, would not attempt to relate idea (a) with a sentence like this one; rather, (s)he would simply write "DK found a gun under the desk", or some variant thereof.
so,

a good writer wouldn't write sentence #1 at all, because, again, its message isn't very clear.

obviously this sentence would not appear bereft of any other context; hopefully that other context would help to clear things up.
RonPurewal
Students
 
Posts: 19744
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:23 am
 

Re: Backward construction with modifiers

by RonPurewal Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:08 am

sentence #2 is clear and unambiguous: there was a gun (of uncertain provenance) under the suspect's desk.