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Thfihe Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
ohn resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.
Hello,
I have already learned from respondents that the sentence A below is incorrect.
A. John resented when Betty seduced himself.
In this time, I'd like you to ask whether the sentence B is correct or not.
B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.
Thank you in advance.
I have already learned from respondents that the sentence A below is incorrect.
A. John resented when Betty seduced himself.
In this time, I'd like you to ask whether the sentence B is correct or not.
B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself. It is incorrect and it makes little sense. To make it grammatical, I'd say something like: John felt resentment when Betty seduced himself .
- B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.
- It is incorrect and it makes little sense.
- To make it grammatical, I'd say something like: John felt resentment when Betty seduced himself .
- But it still looks nonsensical.
- First of all, one cannot really seduce him/herself.
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8 Answers
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thfiheIn this time, I'd like you to ask whether the sentence B is correct or not.B John resented at the time when Betty seduced himself.It is incorrect and it makes little sense. To make it grammatical, I'd say something like:
John felt resentment when Betty seduced himself.
But it still looks nonsensical. First of all, one cannot rea
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B is equally wrong. "Betty seduced himself" is never going to be right. As I mentioned, "himself" appears to refer to Betty, which would be the wrong *** even if it were possible to seduce oneself. Additionally, "resented" cannot be intransitive.
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John [was resentful / felt resentment / resented it] when Betty seduced him.
"when" introduces a new clause. You can't use a "self" word to refer back to something not mentioned in the same clause.
John resented it | when Betty seduced him (John).
...^ .................... | ................................. ^...................
.......................... |
"when" introduces a new clause. You can't use a "self" word to refer back to something not mentioned in the same clause.
John resented it | when Betty seduced him (John).
...^ .................... | ................................. ^...................
.......................... |
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Thank you. NNow I understand when-clauses cannot contain "himself".
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thfihewhen-clauses cannot contain "himself".Not true. You have misunderstood something. Read my reply again, especially noting my second example diagram. Here's another example:
Betty screamed when Thomas injured himself.
That has "himself" in a when-clause.
CJ
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thfiheNNow I understand when-clauses cannot contain "himself".That's not true. A "when" clause can contain "himself" if it refers back to someone mentioned within the clause. For example, "John gets annoyed when Dave contradicts himself" ("himself" = Dave).
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Note that if the subject in the when-clause is the same as the subject in the main clause, you can use the reflexive pronoun:
eg.
Jay yelled "ouch!" when he cut himself.
Mary felt happy when she looked at herself in the mirror.
The little boy smiled when he tied his shoelaces by himself.
eg.
Jay yelled "ouch!" when he cut himself.
Mary felt happy when she looked at herself in the mirror.
The little boy smiled when he tied his shoelaces by himself.
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