A single chair 'vacant'

Question

Hello, everyone,“Many people were standing, for there wasn't a single chair vacant nor any space left on the benches.”Could anybody explain to me why the writer prefers ‘a single chair vacant’ to ‘a single vacant chair’ in above sentence, while I often see such a post-modifying adjective in “There is noun ~ ” pattern?What is the writer intending through the post-modifying adjective?Thanking in advance,

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

deepcosmoswhy the writer prefers ... ~~What is the writer intending~~ What does the writer intend ...?

You would have to ask the writer. But even if you did, you might not get much of an answer. I don't think that even the writer necessarily knows why he chose one phrasing over another. Much of what we say and write is an imitation of what we have heard or seen others say or write.

All I can say is that the given arrangement paraphrases as a single chair that was vacant. The following segment (any space left) has a similar paraphrase, namely, any space that was left, so the writer may have taken that into account, even subconsciously. It may have been a matter of preserving parallelism in the text.

The alternative parallel structure is a single vacant chair nor any left space on the benches, and that is too awkward even to consider because we don't use left as an attributive adjective and because it separates left from its adjunct on the benches. And any left on the benches space is so ungrammatical that it's totally out of the question.

deepcosmosCould anybody explain to me why the writer prefers ‘a single chair vacant’ to ‘a single vacant chair’ in above sentence, while I often see such a post-modifying adjective in “There is noun ~ ” pattern?

You may not be aware of it, but 'while' here means "but on the other hand". That makes your question a little difficult to understand. You want an explanation for a post-modifying adjective after there wasn't, but on the other hand, you often see a post-modifying adjective after that same construction. (Please post examples of the construction you're talking about if you can, because I'm having some trouble finding any.)

Anyway, I suspect those post-modifying adjectives all paraphrase as I have paraphrased them above.

There's a (noun) X > There's a (noun) which is/was X.

However, I don't think that knowing this helps explain the text you originally asked about.

CJ

A single chair 'vacant'

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