amusing/ amused

Question

The critics found little amusing in the recently released comedy.Can I change the sentence above to the following one?The critics found little amused by the recently released comedy.Please advise.LC

Philip · Accepted Answer

LcchangThe critics found little amusing in the recently released comedy.

Can I change the sentence above to the following one?

The critics found little amused by the recently released comedy.

Please advise.

LC

I think the first sentence is correct. There was little material that was amusing. In your second sentence, it might be "the critics found few [people] amused..............."

Lcchang · Answer

Philip
Lcchang
The critics found little amusing in the recently released comedy.

Can I change the sentence above to the following one?

The critics found little amused by the recently released comedy.

Please advise.

LC

I think the first sentence is correct. There was little material that was amusing. In your second sentence, it might be "the critics found few [people] amused..............."

How about " The critics found amusement in the recently released comedy."?

I still fell strange to the first sentence. Find might be followed by some object, right.? How should I do to add one object to the first sentence but the meaning still remains? Please advise.

LC

CalifJim · Answer

The critics found little amusing in the recently released comedy.

little = not much

The critics did not find much which was amusing (which tended to amuse anyone) in the recently released comedy.

amusing and amused are quite different. They go in opposite directions.

If I do something funny, I amuse you. I am amusing to you, and you are amused by me. I am the amusing person; you are the amused person.

If there is something funny in the play, we may find something amusing in the play -- something that is amusing.
If there is almost nothing funny in the play, we may not find much amusing in the play -- not much that is amusing.
If there is almost nothing funny in the play, we may also say that we find little amusing in the play -- little that is amusing.
If there is nothing funny in the play, we say that we find nothing amusing in the play -- nothing that is amusing.

If some people laugh during the play, we may find that some people were amused.
If almost nobody laughs during the play, we may say that we find that few were amused -- few people were amused.
If almost nobody laughs during the play, we may also say that we find that not many were amused.
If nobody laughs, we may say that we find that nobody was amused, or that we found no one amused.

CJ

Lcchang · Answer

1. If there is something funny in the play, we may find something amusing in the play -- something that is amusing.
2. If there is almost nothing funny in the play, we may not find much amusing in the play -- not much that is amusing.
3. If there is almost nothing funny in the play, we may also say that we find little amusing in the play -- little that is amusing.
4. If there is nothing funny in the play, we say that we find nothing amusing in the play -- nothing that is amusing.

CJ,

In sentence 1 and 4, you use something and nothing and nouns, so it's easy for me to understand. Thanks a lot.

However, I don't know if much and little can be nouns too, and that's why the original snetence confused me.

How about these?

3. If there is almost nothing funny in the play, we may also say that we find it little amusing in the play -- little that is amusing.
4. If there is nothing funny in the play, we say that we find it nothing amusing in the play -- nothing that is amusing.

LC

CalifJim · Answer

something, nothing, much, many, few, and little can all be used in place of nouns, yes. They are pronouns of quantity.

You can't use find it as you have done. find it is not followed by pronouns of quantity like this. In this case find is like discover or see. We see nothing (which is) amusing in the play. You would not say We see it nothing (which is) amusing in the play. That would create a sentence with two different direct objects of see: it and nothing. And that doesn't make any sense!

*We find it little amusing in the play.
*We find it nothing amusing in the play.
__________
In find it, find is more like consider or regard, not like discover or see.

find it is normally followed by an adjective and a that clause.

I find it strange that the play started so late.
Didn't you find it unusual that the lights were off?
Matthew found it remarkable that Janice lied about the money.

These mean:

I find that it is strange that the play started so late.
Didn't you find that it was unusual that the lights were off?
Matthew found that it was remarkable that Janice lied about the money.
____________

find it can also be followed by an adjective and an infinitive.

I find it hard to understand all the rules.
Karen found it easy to do the homework.

These mean:

I find that it is hard to understand all the rules.
Karen found that it was easy to do the homework.

CJ

Lcchang · Answer

I totally understand now and can't thank you enough.

LC

Marius Hancu · Answer

If you want to use amused:

The critics were little amused by the recently released comedy.
(means they were in effect irritated by it).

Goodman · Answer

Marius HancuIf you want to use amused:

The critics were little amused by the recently released comedy.
(means they were in effect irritated by it).

I’d like to add a few words along those lines. I find your story absolutely [amusing]. In this sentence [amusing] is used as adjective. If I said “I was not feeling a bit [amused] by your story” I am saying I am not impressed which is the opposite from the first .[Amused] is also used as an adjective in passive voice.

I also could say “ I find very little amusement in your story”. It all depends how you want to express your thoughts.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

The critics found little amusing in the recently released comedy.

'Little' here is a noun, meaning 'only a little amount'.

Best wishes, Clive

Lcchang · Answer

Irritated? I am sorry but I think when people are amused, they must be happy, right? Please advise.

LC

amusing/ amused

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