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SweetFreedom Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Acres wide?
Does "acre" in "acres wide" act as a verb? Meaning "have the space"?
Background info:
These problems were magnified in London, where the population grew at record rates. Large houses were turned into flats and tenements, and as landlords failed to maintain these dwellings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum housing developed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellow_Chesney described the situation as follows: "Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up a substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era#cite_note-dan-21 Significant changes happened in the British http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Poor_Law_system#1800s system in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Poor_Laws, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Poor_Laws, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Poor_Laws. These included significant expansions in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouses (or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poorhouses in Scotland), although with changing populations during the era.
Background info:
These problems were magnified in London, where the population grew at record rates. Large houses were turned into flats and tenements, and as landlords failed to maintain these dwellings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum housing developed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellow_Chesney described the situation as follows: "Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up a substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era#cite_note-dan-21 Significant changes happened in the British http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Poor_Law_system#1800s system in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Poor_Laws, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Poor_Laws, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Poor_Laws. These included significant expansions in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workhouses (or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poorhouses in Scotland), although with changing populations during the era.
Top answer
No, there is no verb "acre". In this case "acres" acts as a modifier for the adjective "wide", describing the (large) degree to which the slums are wide. ) Similar phrases would be "miles deep" or "metres long".
- No, there is no verb "acre".
- In this case "acres" acts as a modifier for the adjective "wide", describing the (large) degree to which the slums are wide.
- ) Similar phrases would be "miles deep" or "metres long".
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2 Answers
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No, there is no verb "acre". In this case "acres" acts as a modifier for the adjective "wide", describing the (large) degree to which the slums are wide. (Since "acre" is a measure of area not length, it is debatable whether this is strictly logical.)
Similar phrases would be "miles deep" or "metres long".
Similar phrases would be "miles deep" or "metres long".
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SweetFreedomDoes "acre" in "acres wide" act as a verb?No. The verb was omitted in both parenthetical small clauses after the subject "hideous slums".
some of them [ were ] acres wide
some [ were ] no more than crannies of obscure misery
CJ
P.S. "acres wide" = "acres in width". Here the author is playing fast an
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