A is to B as C (is to) D

Question

Hi, this is my first question on this forum

We were dissecting an SAT reading passage in class and this came up:

"......These matters are basic to our well-being as land and air animals. As plants will turn to sunlight or rocks or moisture according to their nature, so we bend toward or escape from spatial arrangements according to our emotional needs......"

We had a very long discussion about the best way to interpret the highlighted sentence - I thought that the author was trying to say that these matters are as important to our health as land and air are important to animals. I thought that there was an omitted "to" between "air" and "animals". So basically, the sentence structure would come down to "A is to B as C (is to) D." Reading on from that sentence and thinking about the context, this would be the best interpretation of the sentence in question, or so I thought...

The teacher agreed that this interpretation fit best, but that structure- and grammar-wise, this interpretation would be incorrect. She said that in a sentence with a structure like "A is to B as C is to D", omitting "is to" would be incorrect usage of grammar.

My question: is it really? Is it wrong to leave out "is to" in a sentence like the one I mentioned above? I know it seems unnatural, but I remember having seen similar sentence structures in other places. Does anyone have any ideas about the correct way to interpret the above sentence? I'm desperate here, and really confused.

P.S.: It would be awesome if you could include examples. I know this is a really long and complicated question, but I am desperate and will be forever grateful for any help that can be given!

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

You will probably get replies from native speakers but I'll just say that I agree with your teacher. I agree for the simple reason that I struggled to understand the sentence when I first read it. I do agree with your interpretation of its meaning. I don't think there is another way to understand it, but I have to say that the meaning is rather elusive.

CB

Anonymous · Answer

I think the most important concept to take into account here is that this is not a particularly well written sentence. I say that because, while I believe that both you and your teacher interpreted it incorrectly (or, more accurately, your teacher agreed with an incorrect interpretation as being the best one), you did not interpret it unreasonably - and anytime someone writes a sentence that can reasonably be misinterpreted, it's a poorly written sentence.

That said, the first part of the phrase, "These matters are basic to our well being as land and air animals," is almost certainly meant to be read as:

"Because we are animals that require land and air, these matters are basic to our well being."

Given the style and proficiency (although not the comprehensibility) of the author's writing style, it seems highly unlikely that he or she would have left out the phrase are important to in the sentence that you assumed, given the radically different meaning that phrase imparts.

This interpretation is further supported by the rest of the phrase. When the author writes, "As plants will turn to sunlight or rocks or moisture according to their nature, so we bend toward or escape from spatial arrangements according to our emotional needs......," what he or she is saying is:

"As plants will turn to sunlight or rocks or moisture according to their nature, so we, as land and air animals, bend toward or escape from spatial arrangements according to our emotional needs......"

So...to answer your question...yes. It really is wrong to leave out the phrase is to if you are demonstrating a comparative relationship. In this instance, that is not, I believe, what the author was intending to say (i.e., he or she was not trying to say, "these matters are to our well being as land and water are to animals well being"). If that was the intended meaning, it would be an odd thing to say, because we are land and water animals, and this statement would indicate clearly that we are NOT members of that group.

Hope this helps you somewhat. Thanks.

A is to B as C (is to) D

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