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Seagull Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
The order of preposition phrases
(a) The tourists were threatened with a knife by the robber.
(b) The tourists were threatened by the robber with a knife.
Q1 Which is more natural, (a) or (b)?
Q2 Is there any difference in meaning between these two sentences? To me, (a) sounds like "the robber threatened the tourists using a knife," while (b) sounds as if "the robber who has a knife threatened the tourists." What do you think?
(b) The tourists were threatened by the robber with a knife.
Q1 Which is more natural, (a) or (b)?
Q2 Is there any difference in meaning between these two sentences? To me, (a) sounds like "the robber threatened the tourists using a knife," while (b) sounds as if "the robber who has a knife threatened the tourists." What do you think?
Top answer
These are pretty much the same. The first emphasizes the knife. The second emphasizes the robber.
- These are pretty much the same.
- The first emphasizes the knife.
- The second emphasizes the robber.
- However, I would put it in the active tense: The robber threatened the tourists with his knife.
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4 Answers
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These are pretty much the same. The first emphasizes the knife. The second emphasizes the robber. However, I would put it in the active tense:
The robber threatened the tourists with his knife.
The robber threatened the tourists with his knife.
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seagullTo me, (a) sounds like "the robber threatened the tourists using a knife," while (b) sounds as if "the robber who has a knife threatened the tourists." What do you think?Those are possible interpretations, but most sentences with multiple successive prepositional phrases are ambiguous.
We saw the man on the hill with a telescope.
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