Sentence Structure
Jumbled line
Poisoned to death/waste products/by our own/we would be without water
What would be the correct structure and why?
1) Without water we would be poisoned to death by our own waste products
2) We would be without water poisoned to death by our own waste products
3) we would be poisoned to death without water by our own waste products.
Is there any rule for a perfect structure in these cases? Please clarify
Top answer
Hi GGkekda I think you've missed an oblique there, two words from the end: - Poisoned to death/waste products/by our own/we would be/without water I don't think there can be any rule here: you just have to fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle. "By our own" has to be followed by a noun phrase; and that gives us "by our own waste products". "We would be" needs an adjectival phrase; that gives us "we would be poisoned to death" The preposition 'by' would usually follow a verb or verb phrase, so: " we would be poisoned to death by our own waste products".
- Hi GGkekda I think you've missed an oblique there, two words from the end: - Poisoned to death/waste products/by our own/we would be/without water I don't think there can be any rule here: you just have to fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle.
- "By our own" has to be followed by a noun phrase; and that gives us "by our own waste products".
- "We would be" needs an adjectival phrase; that gives us "we would be poisoned to death" The preposition 'by' would usually follow a verb or verb phrase, so: " we would be poisoned to death by our own waste products".
- That leaves us with "without water" and that's now clearly the point of the sentence, so we can put it at the end or the beginning.
- It wouldn't be wrong to put it at the end: - We would be poisoned to death by our own waste products without water But this might create a clash of meaning, with "waste products without water".
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Hi GGkekda
I think you've missed an oblique there, two words from the end:
- Poisoned to death/waste products/by our own/we would be/without water
I don't think there can be any rule here: you just have to fit it together like a jigsaw puzzle. "By our own" has to be followed by a noun phrase; and that gives us "by our own waste products". "We would be" needs an adjectival ph
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