Is the sentence "the human body is at its most vigorous" wrong?

Question

the original sentence is : At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous.
in this sentence,the word "vigorous" is obviously an adjective. But what does it mean when an adjective is placed behind "most"? is the sentence above right or wrong?if it is right,can we say "I am at my most impulsive"?

thanks

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Graphite wrote on 20 Oct 2004:
[nq:1]the original sentence is : At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. in this sentence,the word "vigorous" is obviously an adjective.[/nq]
Yes.
[nq:1]But what does it mean when an adjective is placed behind "most"?[/nq]
That the superlative adverb "most" modifies that adjective.
[nq:1]is the sentence above right or wrong?[/nq]
Grammatically the sentence is correct. Semantically the sentence is not problematic unless it is false. It's a sweeping generalization, of course, so it isn't true for every human body, but it might be true for a substantial number of them.
[nq:1]if it is right,can we say "I am at my most impulsive"?[/nq]
As it stands, it's semantically incomplete because it lacks a context. I'd suggest adding and adverbial such as "Right now" at the beginning or "when I've had three martinis within sixty minutes" at the end.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical editor
For email, replace numbers with English alphabet.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]the original sentence is : At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. in this sentence,the word "vigorous" is obviously an adjective. But what does it mean when an adjective is placed behind "most"?[/nq]
It forms a superlative.
[nq:1]is the sentence above right or wrong?[/nq]
Right (as to grammar, anyway). Adjectives in the superlative are sometimes used like nouns to refer to the situation or condition when the superlative is applicable. Here "most vigorous" is modified by "its" and forms the object of the preposition "at", just as a noun would. It indicates the condition of the human body when it is most vigorous, and the sentence says that that is the condition at age 12.
[nq:1]if it is right,can we say "I am at my most impulsive"?[/nq]
Yes. More commonly there would be some sort of time indication: "I am at my most impulsive today." But that might be implicit from context: "Are you feeling impulsive today?" "I am at my most impulsive."

Mark Brader "How can we believe that?" Toronto "Because this time it's true!" (Email Removed) Lynn & Jay: YES, PRIME MINISTER

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]the original sentence is : At the age of twelve years, the human body isat its most vigorous. in this ... placed behind "most"? is the sentence above right or wrong?if it is right,can we say "I am at my mostimpulsive"?[/nq]
You can test the appropriateness of "most vigourous" by adding the noun which has been made elliptical.
". . .the human body is at its most vigorous stage (of development)." " I am at my most impulsive stage" or change the preposition to "in my most impulsive mood", etc.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]the original sentence is : At the age of twelve years, the human body isat its most vigorous. in this ... placed behind "most"? is the sentence above right or wrong?if it is right,can we say "I am at my mostimpulsive"?[/nq]
"At its most vigorous" means "as vigorous as it will ever be." It's a particular form of superlative.
The general idiom is "At {possessive pronoun} most {adjective}", so yes, "I am at my most impulsive" is acceptable.

Is the sentence "the human body is at its most vigorous" wrong?

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions