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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Strange adjective form
Hello English Teachers! I am curious about a line of text posted on Yahoo Answers. One respondant said the grammar in this line was informal but common. I am not a native speaker, but it looks wrong and strange to me. What are the rules for making long adjectives like this? I cannot find them in my grammar book. Thank you for your help!
The line: "The 17-year-old Momsen likes to wear various shamelessly-showing-off-her-
underage-body, suggesting-a-certain-readiness-for-hard-sex outfits made of leather, vinyl, and latex."
The line: "The 17-year-old Momsen likes to wear various shamelessly-showing-off-her-
underage-body, suggesting-a-certain-readiness-for-hard-sex outfits made of leather, vinyl, and latex."
Top answer
The rule is you can do that on an ad hoc basis in casual conversation. It is not acceptable elsewhere, and it is not common at all.
- The rule is you can do that on an ad hoc basis in casual conversation.
- It is not acceptable elsewhere, and it is not common at all.
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2 Answers
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The rule is you can do that on an ad hoc basis in casual conversation. It is not acceptable elsewhere, and it is not common at all.
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Hi there.
This isn't something I've ever taught, so I've been doing some research (Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage", and grammar-monster.com).
Mister Micawber is right that the really long ones aren't so common, but you can find loads of examples of shorter ones.
They are like compound adjectives - there's an example at the beginning of your line where
"She
This isn't something I've ever taught, so I've been doing some research (Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage", and grammar-monster.com).
Mister Micawber is right that the really long ones aren't so common, but you can find loads of examples of shorter ones.
They are like compound adjectives - there's an example at the beginning of your line where
"She
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