Almost finished

Question

Which are correct:The almost finished projects have to be set aside for the time being.The projects almost finished have to be set aside for the time being.The almost dead men  were left on the battlefield.The men almost dead were left on the battlefield.Gratefully,Navi.

Citibox · Accepted Answer

navitasanThe almost finished projects have to be set aside for the time being.The projects almost finished have to be set aside for the time being.

The first is more correct but would read more elegantly as "The projects, almost finished, have to be set aside for the time being." which just adds a couple of commas to the second sentence.

Exactly the same applies to the third and fourth lines. I believe that "The men, almost dead, were left on the battlefield." just sounds better.

It could be that a hyphen would make sense of lines one and three as in almost-finished projects and almost-dead men because "almost finished" and "almost dead" are qualifiers for the "projects" and "men".

I hope this helps but would love feedback from others more erudite than me.

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much Citibox and Mr. Micawber.

I agree that the versions with commas are more elegant, but I think they would imply that all the projects were almost finished and all the men were almost dead.

The versions with hyphens are perfect.

I guess one could also use a restrictive clause.

The projects which were almost finished ...
The men who were almost dead...

Thanks again.
Navi.

Citibox · Answer

Yes the "which were" and "who were" are good English but they change the meaning of the sentence. In this case, instead of all the men being left on the battlefield who were all almost dead, it implies that men escaped from the battlefield but those who were almost dead were left behind and the same goes for the projects.

It is a subtle difference but important in the description of what actually happened.

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much Citibox.

This sentence could mean that:

1-The almost-dead men were left on the battlefield.
I have added the hyphen.

It generally would, since if someone left them there, it means that some men left the battlefield. One could of course argue that the women left them there. So it might have the other meaning as well (all the men were almost dead).

That meaning would, as you have pointed out, be unambiguously expressed by:

2-The men, almost dead, were left on the battlefield.

Am I correct?

Gratefully,
Navi.

Citibox · Answer

Hi Navi

There are still two different scenarios here. Either all the men were left on the battlefield and all of them were so severly wounded that they were almost dead or only the severely wounded who were almost dead were left behind.

Let me try and explain further in a similar scenario.
The army evacuated the battlefield leaving all the almost dead, the non-walking wounded, to the enemy's mercy.
The army was defeated and all the soldier survivors were almost dead.

We have to understand whether the whole army went down or just the the almost dead ones.

Navitasan · Answer

Thank you very much Citibox.

I think we are agreed. Two scenarios are possible.

1-The almost-dead men were left on the battlefield.

In this case, the sentence is ambiguous. We don't know if they were all almost dead, or if some of them got away.
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The men, almost dead, were left on the battlefield.
The men, who were almost dead, were left on the battlefield.

In these two sentences, all the men are almost dead.

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The men who were almost dead were left on the battlefield.

In this case, those men who were almost dead were left there. The others were not left there.

That is the way I see things. Would you say I am correct?

Gratefully,
Navi.

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