By the evening, the last scrap of energy had drained out of her.

Question

HiCould  you please tell me if the following sentences are natural, especially the highlighted parts?By the evening, the last scrap of energy had drained out of her.By the evening, the last scrap of energy was drained out of her.By the evening, the last bit of energy drained out of her.Thanks,Tom

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

Could you please tell me if the following sentences are natural, especially the highlighted parts?

By the evening, the last scrap of energy had drained out of her.

By the evening, the last scrap of energy was drained out of her.

By the evening, the last bit of energy drained out of her.

Yes, we say such things.

Really, 'bit' and 'scrap' suggest non-liquids, while 'drain' relates to liquids, so I might choose different words if I wanted to speak carefullly. But usually, we don't give deep thought to how we say things.

Clive

Mr. Tom · Answer

Thanks, Clive!

So would you prefer "drop" to "scrap/bit" here?

Also are "had drained", "was drained" and "drained" almost synonymous here?

Tom

Clive · Answer

Hi again,

So would you prefer "drop" to "scrap/bit" here? Yes

Also are "had drained", "was drained" and "drained" almost synonymous here? Yes, I don't think any real differences are intended by the writer.

However, here are a few comments on subtleties.

By the evening, the last scrap of energy had drained out of her. The draining finished before the evening.

By the evening, the last scrap of energy was drained out of her. Suggests something external to her did the draining.

By the evening, the last bit of energy drained out of her. The draing began before the evening, and finished at the start of the evening.

Clive

By the evening, the last scrap of energy had drained out of her.

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