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Park sang joon Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Two buses went by the stop almost empty
1. Two buses went by the stop almost empty.
Here, It looks like "almost empty" modifies "the stop."
I'd like to know if I will make "almost empty" modify "two buses," I have only to position a comma before "almost empty."
Thank you in advance for your help.
Here, It looks like "almost empty" modifies "the stop."
I'd like to know if I will make "almost empty" modify "two buses," I have only to position a comma before "almost empty."
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
It doesn’t look as though “almost empty” modifies “the stop”. However, “Two buses went by the almost empty stop” does. And, “Two buses, almost empty, went by the stop” is clear.
- It doesn’t look as though “almost empty” modifies “the stop”.
- However, “Two buses went by the almost empty stop” does.
- And, “Two buses, almost empty, went by the stop” is clear.
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5 Answers
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It doesn’t look as though “almost empty” modifies “the stop”.
However, “Two buses went by the almost empty stop” does.
And, “Two buses, almost empty, went by the stop” is clear.
However, “Two buses went by the almost empty stop” does.
And, “Two buses, almost empty, went by the stop” is clear.
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We talk about 'an empty bus', bu it sounds odd to me to talk about 'an empty stop'.
I'd say eg 'a stop with no people'.
I'd say eg 'a stop with no people'.
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The buses went by the stop with few people on board. They went by (while) in this state of being nearly empty. Thus the adjective phrase almost empty modifies went by the stop, so that makes it an adjunct (or adverbial) - a predicative adjunct to be precise, because although it functions in clause structure it is semantically predicated of the subject noun phrase two buses
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CliveWe talk about 'an empty bus', bu it sounds odd to me to talk about 'an empty stop'. I'd say eg 'a stop with no people'.In my City, being pretty cold in the winter, most of our bus stops are glass-enclosed (some with heated seating). Notwithstanding, sometimes the stop is empty.
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CliveWe talk about 'an empty bus', bu it sounds odd to me to talk about 'an empty stop'.If that was the intended meaning, let’s not forget the stop almost empty, as a noun phrase, is ungrammatical.
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