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Jandi Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

If he opened

- (The choice was his alone.) If he [opened] the door, there [came] out of it a hungry tiger which immediately jumped on him and tore him to pieces as punishment for his guilt.

This is from a book. Is this sentence correct?

Should it be "If he opened the door, there would come out ... "?

Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

It doesn't follow the usual paradigm, but that doesn't make it incorrect. This is a literary device to describe the action more vividly. Note also the use of "there came out of it a hungry tiger", rather more literary than the usual "a hungry tiger would come out of it".

— CalifJim

  • It doesn't follow the usual paradigm, but that doesn't make it incorrect.
  • This is a literary device to describe the action more vividly.
  • Note also the use of "there came out of it a hungry tiger", rather more literary than the usual "a hungry tiger would come out of it".
  • This is definitely not a sentence you would normally hear in an everyday conversation!
  • So the author is not likely to want to tell the story using everyday language, right?
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4 Answers
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It doesn't follow the usual paradigm, but that doesn't make it incorrect. This is a literary device to describe the action more vividly. Note also the use of "there came out of it a hungry tiger", rather more literary than the usual "a hungry tiger would come out of it". This is definitely not a sentence you would normally hear in an everyday conversation! So the author is not likely to want
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Yes, I've got it.
Thank you!
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- (The choice was his alone.) If he [opened] the door, there [came] out of it a hungry tiger which immediately jumped on him and tore him to pieces as punishment for his guilt.

This is from a book. Is this sentence correct?

JT: PERFECTLY CORRECT; just a bit literary and reminiscent of an older form of English [possibly even an older subjunctive form; why isn't anyone complai
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