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Guzhao67 Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
I was building a house
in the film Unforgiven, played by Clint Eastwood (1992), before the hero pulls the trigger to kill Little Bill, the latter (Little Bill) says:"please, I was building a house". My question is: semantically, is the house being built but not finished OR he wants to build a house but the plan is only in preparation and he doesn't begin building the house at all?
thank you
thank you
Top answer
Hi, It could be either, although, as you know, Little Bill was actually in the process of building one. I'm happy to know that, in all that excitement and violence, you were still thinking about English grammar. Little Bill did not say 'Please'.
- Hi, It could be either, although, as you know, Little Bill was actually in the process of building one.
- I'm happy to know that, in all that excitement and violence, you were still thinking about English grammar.
- Little Bill did not say 'Please'.
- Pleading was not in his nature.
- You can check the actual dialogue here.
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2 Answers
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Hi,
It could be either, although, as you know, Little Bill was actually in the process of building one.
I'm happy to know that, in all that excitement and violence, you were still thinking about English grammar.
It could be either, although, as you know, Little Bill was actually in the process of building one.
I'm happy to know that, in all that excitement and violence, you were still thinking about English grammar.
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It could mean either. He could be in the process of actually building the house, or he could be planning to build it. Only the context will determine which is intended. The former meaning is a more literal interpretation of what the words say, but "was verb-ing" is used colloquially with the latter meaning.
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