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Taka Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Spray

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00 She sprayed the wall with paint. 12blockquote
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00A friend of mine says this sentence indicates that she sprayed the entire wall. Is it necessarily true? Aren't there any possibilities that she actually sprayed some part of it? 0-
  

Top answer

0 "She sprayed the wall with paint" need not necessarily mean that "she sprayed the entire wall" just like "she sprayed the wall with grafitti/slogans" does not mean that "the entire wall was sprayed with graffiti/slogans". 02br 02br 00However, "she painted the wall with spray paint" means that "she sprayed the entire wall with paint" 0-

— Temico

  • 0 "She sprayed the wall with paint" need not necessarily mean that "she sprayed the entire wall" just like "she sprayed the wall with grafitti/slogans" does not mean that "the entire wall was sprayed with graffiti/slogans".
  • 02br 02br 00However, "she painted the wall with spray paint" means that "she sprayed the entire wall with paint" 0-
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17 Answers
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0 "She sprayed the wall with paint" need not necessarily mean that "she sprayed the entire wall" just like "she sprayed the wall with grafitti/slogans" does not mean that "the entire wall was sprayed with graffiti/slogans". 02br
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00However, "she painted the wall with spray paint" means that "she sprayed the entire wall with paint" 0-
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0 Are you sure? Then why does such difference occur? 0-
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0 Was the original sentence in a context that led your friend to a conclusion about what it meant? Out of context, the meaning is open to both interpretations. 0-
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0 No context behind. He says it means that way regardless of its context. 0-
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0 What if your sentence follows this one: 'She was standing somewhere along the foot of the Great Wall of China with a spray can of red paint.'? 0-
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0LOL! 05000 That's a good one.02br
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00Are you Chinese? 010id1
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0 No. Are you? 02br
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00I just tried to think of a big wall. And I guess I could have even written that she had a million gallons of paint, and 100 years of time. She still wouldn't have covered the wall. 0-
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0 01blockquote
00 No. Are you? 12blockquote
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00Nope! I'm Japanese. 02br
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00And where are you from? 02br
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00 I just tried to think of a big wall. And I guess I could have even written that she had a million gallons of paint, and 100 years of time. She still wouldn't have
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0 Pennsylvania, USA 0-
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0 Nice to see you, davkett! 02br
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00So, what do you think about temico's comment as below: 01blockquote
00 However, "she painted the wall with spray paint" means that "she sprayed the entire wall with paint" 12blockquote
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00Do you agree? Or do you think it still depends on its context. 0-
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