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Darcy Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
As handsome a young man as
1) He was as handsome a young man as ever walked along the streets of London."
2) He is as handsome as the young man
I don't understand the word order of the first sentence in the above.
Is it possible ' He was as handsome as a young man ever walked along the streets of London as a same meaning?
Could you explain why " a young man" comes before "as"?
"as ...as" in the number 1 and that of the number 2 is the same meaning and the same function, isn't it? Does the second 'as' in the first sentence function as a relative pronoun?
Thanks in advance.
2) He is as handsome as the young man
I don't understand the word order of the first sentence in the above.
Is it possible ' He was as handsome as a young man ever walked along the streets of London as a same meaning?
Could you explain why " a young man" comes before "as"?
"as ...as" in the number 1 and that of the number 2 is the same meaning and the same function, isn't it? Does the second 'as' in the first sentence function as a relative pronoun?
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
shtml Your specific example is saying that there is no one handsomer who has ever walked along the streets of London. There may be some who are as handsome but none handsomer.
- shtml Your specific example is saying that there is no one handsomer who has ever walked along the streets of London.
- There may be some who are as handsome but none handsomer.
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5 Answers
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Here is a link to several examples:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/36400.html
Here is a fairly complete explanation from a BBC site:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/36400.html
Here is a fairly complete explanation from a BBC site:
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Darcy1) He was as handsome a young man as ever walked along the streets of London.English has a pair of correlative conjunctions (as...as) to be used in comparisons. The simplest form is:
2) He is as handsome as the young man
I don't understand the word order of the second sentence in the above.
He is as (adjective) as
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AlpheccaStarsIt means that of all young men who ever walked in London, he is equal (or better) in handsomeness.Are you sure? I've always taken this formulation to mean that the current example (in this case the handsome young man) is as good as the best ever encountered but not better.
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Thanks for your replies.
They are very helpful.
AlpheccaStars, I think adjective comes before noun. but " handsome a young man" ..it has a strange word oreder.
They are very helpful.
AlpheccaStars, I think adjective comes before noun. but " handsome a young man" ..it has a strange word oreder.
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Hi Ray:
I stand corrected. If he is as handsome as the best, then there would be 2 or more tied for "best". He would be better than most, but not better than all. Here is the sentence for "the very best".
He is the most handsome young man of all who ever walked the streets of London.
I stand corrected. If he is as handsome as the best, then there would be 2 or more tied for "best". He would be better than most, but not better than all. Here is the sentence for "the very best".
He is the most handsome young man of all who ever walked the streets of London.
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