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Teleostomi Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
"Habitual action" plus "continuous"
(1) He cuts the day, so to speak, as if he were chopping up a soft coconut with a bush knife.
Is this sentence natural?
The reason why I thought it might not be a natural sentence is:
(i) The verb "cuts" is a habitual action, so "he were chopping up" should have been conjugated accordingly to "he chopped up" or "he would chop up."
(ii) Secondly, is a juxtaposition of "so to speak" and "as if not redundant?
Is this sentence natural?
The reason why I thought it might not be a natural sentence is:
(i) The verb "cuts" is a habitual action, so "he were chopping up" should have been conjugated accordingly to "he chopped up" or "he would chop up."
(ii) Secondly, is a juxtaposition of "so to speak" and "as if not redundant?
Top answer
It is natural. 'Chopped up' would make it past tense, which would mean 'cuts' couldn't have been used at the beginning. 'He would chop up' is perfectly acceptable.
- It is natural.
- 'Chopped up' would make it past tense, which would mean 'cuts' couldn't have been used at the beginning.
- 'He would chop up' is perfectly acceptable.
- No, it is not redundant.
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4 Answers
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It is natural. 'Chopped up' would make it past tense, which would mean 'cuts' couldn't have been used at the beginning. 'He would chop up' is perfectly acceptable. No, it is not redundant.
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Thanks for replying to my question.
But I don't think "chopped" is a past tense, but a result of agreement with "as if", which requires seemingly a "paste tense" but in fact it is only seen so in form.
But thanks for the info that it's a natural sentence. Would it really be unnatural if we substituted "one chopped" in the sentence?
But I don't think "chopped" is a past tense, but a result of agreement with "as if", which requires seemingly a "paste tense" but in fact it is only seen so in form.
But thanks for the info that it's a natural sentence. Would it really be unnatural if we substituted "one chopped" in the sentence?
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Hmm. After reading it over a couple of more times, I am not so sure. I'm sure one of the more learned ones will come to the rescue.
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>ii) Secondly, is a juxtaposition of "so to speak" and "as if" not redundant?'
I think you do have a redundancy here.
I think you do have a redundancy here.
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