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SuperESL Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Negative
"But he isn’t always puritanical and disapproving, making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath."
Is the author saying that "making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath" are acts of being "puritanical and disapproving" and that "he isn't always" so?
So I could achieve the opposite meaning simply by replacing "isn't" with "is," without changing anything about the second part of the sentence?
"But he is always puritanical and disapproving, making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath."
Thank you.
Is the author saying that "making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath" are acts of being "puritanical and disapproving" and that "he isn't always" so?
So I could achieve the opposite meaning simply by replacing "isn't" with "is," without changing anything about the second part of the sentence?
"But he is always puritanical and disapproving, making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath."
Thank you.
Top answer
SuperESL Is the author saying that "making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath" are acts of being "puritanical and disapproving" and that "he isn't always" so? Not necessarily, it is simply a habit, but they are appropriate gestures for those characteristics. SuperESL So I could achieve the opposite meaning simply by replacing "isn't" with "is," without changing anything about the second part of the sentence?
- SuperESL Is the author saying that "making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath" are acts of being "puritanical and disapproving" and that "he isn't always" so?
- Not necessarily, it is simply a habit, but they are appropriate gestures for those characteristics.
- SuperESL So I could achieve the opposite meaning simply by replacing "isn't" with "is," without changing anything about the second part of the sentence?
- Yes, indeed.
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4 Answers
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SuperESLIs the author saying that "making a steeple of his fingers and giving a sharp intake of breath" are acts of being "puritanical and disapproving" and that "he isn't always" so?Not necessarily, it is simply a habit, but they are appropriate gestures for those characteristics.
SuperESLSo I could achieve the opposite meaning simply
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So something like this would make sense?
"She is by no means beautiful, attracting attention from a lot of young men in the neighborhood."
The query I am driving at is whether the second part of a sentence of this particular structure is understood to elaborate on the whole of the first part of the sentence (i.e. "she is by no means beautiful") or only the last bit (i.e. the adj
"She is by no means beautiful, attracting attention from a lot of young men in the neighborhood."
The query I am driving at is whether the second part of a sentence of this particular structure is understood to elaborate on the whole of the first part of the sentence (i.e. "she is by no means beautiful") or only the last bit (i.e. the adj
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SuperESL"She is by no means beautiful, attracting attention from a lot of young men in the neighborhood."I see where you are going with this. Obviously context needs to make clear what is going on, and style is involved, but in itself it makes sense enough to me.
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