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Nokia Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

"They saw the ceaseless rain as even the sky crying."

Read this on a newspaper. Not sure if this is a good question to ask though:

"They saw the ceaseless rain as even the sky crying."

Can I add a "was" before crying?

"They saw the ceaseless rain as even the sky was crying."

Are they the same in meaning?

Thanks.
  

Top answer

nokia Can I add a "was" before crying? Grammatically, yes. It is a grammatically correct sentence.

— AlpheccaStars

  • nokia Can I add a "was" before crying?
  • Grammatically, yes.
  • It is a grammatically correct sentence.
  • nokia Are they the same in meaning?
  • The first is personification of the sky as crying with them in sympathy.
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10 Answers
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nokiaCan I add a "was" before crying?
Grammatically, yes. It is a grammatically correct sentence.
nokiaAre they the same in meaning?
The first is personification of the sky as crying with them in sympathy. The rain is likened to the sky crying.

The second does not make much sense to me.
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"The first is personification of the sky as crying with them in sympathy. The rain is likened to the sky crying."

Understood. Thanks. Very kind of you.

I still cannot tell the difference between the two sentences though...
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nokiaI still cannot tell the difference between the two sentences though...
In the first sentence, "the sky crying" functions as a noun phrase; the two things being compared or likened are "the ceaseless rain" and "the sky crying". It is not possible for "the sky was crying" to function as a noun, so if the second sentence means anything at all, it must be int
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GPYThe only possibility that I see is for "as" to mean "at the same time as",
... or I suppose "as" could be interpreted as "because".
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In the first sentence, the word "as" is a preposition. The object is "the sky crying."
"Crying" is a modifier for "sky." You could say the "crying sky" but "crying" works well as a post-modifier.
Compare these pairs:
Her cheeks were blushed, as (like) a blooming flower.
Her cheeks were blushed, as (like) a flower blooming.
He face lit up as (like) the rising sun.
He
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Ok. I think I got it now.

Can I rephrase the sentence as:

"They saw the ceaseless rain as if the sky was (were?) crying."

Also, can I interpret "even" as "used to show that something is surprising or unexpected" or "used to emphasize a comparison" (as stated in the Cambridge Online Dictionary)? or both?

Is "even" removable without changing the meaning of
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nokia"They saw the ceaseless rain as if the sky was (were?) crying."
This has a somewhat similar effect, but it is not quite such a clear or straightforward likening of the two things.
nokiaAlso, can I interpret "even" as "used to show that something is surprising or unexpected" or "used to emphasize a comparison" (as stated in the
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"They saw the ceaseless rain as even the sky crying."

The looked upon the ceaseless rain as a sign that the sky was crying with the whole world.

More examples:
John never cries. But the movie was so sad that even John's face was streaked with tears when we came out of the theater. (John cried along with everyone else. That was very surprising to us.)

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