Placement of "a time" in [after I did something]
I have made up the sentences below.
(1) I went shopping after I did my laundry at 8pm.
(2) I took a shower 10pm after I had dinner.
My non-native English speaking friends think (1) is correct and (2) is wrong. (1) makes sense because you are talking about two actions separated by a time - you did your laundry at 8 and then you went shopping anytime after your laundry. However, (2) sounds odd to them.
I don't understand why (2) sounds odd. Please explain that. Thank you very much.
Top answer
ansonguy (1) I went shopping after I did my laundry at 8pm. There is a trace of ambiguity that makes this sentence less than ideal. The "8 pm" comes out of nowhere.
- ansonguy (1) I went shopping after I did my laundry at 8pm.
- There is a trace of ambiguity that makes this sentence less than ideal.
- The "8 pm" comes out of nowhere.
- You went shopping after you did your laundry, and we think you're done.
- Now we have 8 pm, and we don't want that to be the time you started your laundry because the sentence starts by telling us you went shopping, and we want to know when that was, not when you started the chore of possibly quite variable duration.
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ansonguy(1) I went shopping after I did my laundry at 8pm.
There is a trace of ambiguity that makes this sentence less than ideal. The "8 pm" comes out of nowhere. You went shopping after you did your laundry, and we think you're done. Now we have 8 pm, and we don't want that to be the time you started your laundry because the sentence starts by telling us
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