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Tenacious Learner Posted 15 years ago
Grammar

Capital letter and 'ran past'

Hi teachers,

I have a couple of questions about this sentence. Could you please help me?

A small boy ran past, but Aunt Polly put out her hand and stopped him.

What is the meaning of 'ran past'?

Why 'Aunt' is written with a capital letter?

Thanks in advance
  

Top answer

Polly's aunt ran past" would not be capitalized. " Aunt Polly " is the name by which she is called. The boy ran by the location where we were.

— Avangi

  • Polly's aunt ran past" would not be capitalized.
  • " Aunt Polly " is the name by which she is called.
  • The boy ran by the location where we were.
  • Usually "past" and "by" mean that he approached our location, came abreast of, and continued on without stopping.
  • A bullet just whizzed past [my head] !
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16 Answers
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Polly's aunt ran past" would not be capitalized.
"Aunt Polly" is the name by which she is called.

The boy ran by the location where we were.

Usually "past" and "by" mean that he approached our location, came abreast of, and continued on without stopping.

A bullet just whizzed past [my head] ! ("My head" is optional.)

The example you g
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Thanks a lot Avangi. But the sentence was taken from 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'.
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Well, I'm afraid you'll have to complain to Yankee. She's a big Mark Twain fan.
He died the year my father was born. They both rode in on the tail of Halley's Comet!
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As soon as I see Yankee, I'll do it Avangi. No doubt about it. Emotion: nodding
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Aunt Polly is at X. The trajectory of the boy is shown by -----.

X
-----------------------------------------

However, it seems that Aunt Polly stopped the boy before he completed his intended trajectory.
______________

Names of relatives are capitalized when combined with their first names: Uncle Jack,
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Hi CalifJim.

Than you for your point of view. It also helps and clarifies my doubts as you always do!

Have a nice week.
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Thinking SpainIt also helps and clarifies my doubts
Mine are intensified and clarified.

If "ran past" means "ran up to and stopped," what's the term for "ran up to and kept going"?

Is there a difference between "I intend to run past Aunt Polly" and "I intend to try to run past Aunt Polly"?

I used to think the simple pas
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AvangiMine are intensified and clarified.
Uphs! That's a very interesting point of view.
AvangiIs there a difference between "I intend to run past Aunt Polly" and "I intend to try to run past Aunt Polly"?
I don't think so!
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Thinking SpainA small boy ran past, but Aunt Polly put out her hand and stopped him.
I agree with Avangi -this would be better written with the progressive:

A small boy was running past and Aunt Polly put out her hand and stopped him.
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It ceraintly makes sense. It really does. The past progressive here has helped me understand the meaning of the sentence.

Thank you AlpheccaStars. Thanks to you and to all that have contributed to clarify the meaning so far.
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