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Taka Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
eager and prepared
When we are awake, we are active, rational beings, eager to make an effort to get what we want and prepared to defend ourselves against attack.
Grammatically speaking, is 'eager' and 'prepared':
(a) the complements of 'are' (i.e. we are (active, rational beings)+(eager to make an effort to get what we want)+ (prepared to defend ourselves against attack)).
(b) just added to the main sentence 'we are active, rational beings' afterwards: additional information, structually not equivalent to 'active, rational beings' (i.e. [we are active, rational beings]+ eager to... and prepared to...).
?
Grammatically speaking, is 'eager' and 'prepared':
(a) the complements of 'are' (i.e. we are (active, rational beings)+(eager to make an effort to get what we want)+ (prepared to defend ourselves against attack)).
(b) just added to the main sentence 'we are active, rational beings' afterwards: additional information, structually not equivalent to 'active, rational beings' (i.e. [we are active, rational beings]+ eager to... and prepared to...).
?
Top answer
If the writer is following the traditional rule of punctuation, the sentence should read like (a). (a) 'A, B, C and D' coordinates four items equally. We are {(A)active, (B)rational beings, (C)eager …and (D)prepared …} If the writer's intention were to make the sentence read like (b), it would be coordinated like 'A and B, C and D'.
- If the writer is following the traditional rule of punctuation, the sentence should read like (a).
- (a) 'A, B, C and D' coordinates four items equally.
- We are {(A)active, (B)rational beings, (C)eager …and (D)prepared …} If the writer's intention were to make the sentence read like (b), it would be coordinated like 'A and B, C and D'.
- We are {(A)active and (B)rational beings}, {(C)eager …and (D)prepared …}
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5 Answers
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If the writer is following the traditional rule of punctuation, the sentence should read like (a).
(a) 'A, B, C and D' coordinates four items equally.
We are {(A)active, (B)rational beings, (C)eager …and (D)prepared …}
If the writer's intention were to make the sentence read like (b), it would be coordinated like 'A and B, C and D'.
We are {(A)active and (B)rational
(a) 'A, B, C and D' coordinates four items equally.
We are {(A)active, (B)rational beings, (C)eager …and (D)prepared …}
If the writer's intention were to make the sentence read like (b), it would be coordinated like 'A and B, C and D'.
We are {(A)active and (B)rational
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Taka,
You emphasized grammatically speaking. Is that as opposed to semantically speaking? Maybe it's because I'm not a grammarian, but it seems to me that the grammatical analysis/answer here would have to be preceded by a semantic interpretation?
You emphasized grammatically speaking. Is that as opposed to semantically speaking? Maybe it's because I'm not a grammarian, but it seems to me that the grammatical analysis/answer here would have to be preceded by a semantic interpretation?
00
I think I'd take it as further information about "active, rational beings":
"...active, rational beings, (who are) eager to make an effort to get what we want and prepared to defend ourselves against attack."
MrP
"...active, rational beings, (who are) eager to make an effort to get what we want and prepared to defend ourselves against attack."
MrP
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Thank you, MrP!
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davkett,
Maybe I should have said 'structually' instead of 'grammatically speaking'.
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davkett,
Maybe I should have said 'structually' instead of 'grammatically speaking'.
00
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