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Youngbuts Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
the respect of the public
Hi, everyone.
I have a question related to the following sentnece. Would you take a look at it?
Out of modesty the prince and princess declined to comment on the crass rumor to keep the respect of the public.
I was wondering who is the agent of the repect in the setence above. To me It seems to have two possible interpretations; The prince respected the public, so he rejected to make any comments on the problem. Or because he wanted to keep the respect from/by the public, he did not say anything about it.
Which is the right understanding for the original sentence? And what should I do to express the other one?
Many thanks in advance.
I have a question related to the following sentnece. Would you take a look at it?
Out of modesty the prince and princess declined to comment on the crass rumor to keep the respect of the public.
I was wondering who is the agent of the repect in the setence above. To me It seems to have two possible interpretations; The prince respected the public, so he rejected to make any comments on the problem. Or because he wanted to keep the respect from/by the public, he did not say anything about it.
Which is the right understanding for the original sentence? And what should I do to express the other one?
Many thanks in advance.
Top answer
youngbuts Which is the right understanding for the original sentence? The agent is 'the public'. to keep the respect of X means that X respects the subject and the subject wants the situation to continue that way.
- youngbuts Which is the right understanding for the original sentence?
- The agent is 'the public'.
- to keep the respect of X means that X respects the subject and the subject wants the situation to continue that way.
- The reverse is to keep respecting the public or to keep his respect of the public .
- The of -phrase can introduce the agent or the object, so it can get tricky, as you have seen in this example.
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1 Answers
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youngbutsWhich is the right understanding for the original sentence?The agent is 'the public'. to keep the respect of X means that X respects the subject and the subject wants the situation to continue that way.
The reverse is to keep respecting the public or to keep his respect of the public.
The of-phrase can i
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