who got dizzy?

Question

Hello Teachers"Jack twirled Mary dizzy."How should I read this sentence? Who got dizzy, Jack or Mary?Paco

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hello Paco,

Mary.

A clearer example might be 'The robber beat the man unconscious'.

Best wishes, Clive

Khoff · Answer

Paco - I think this means "Jack twirled Mary until she (Mary) became dizzy."

Miriam · Answer

Hi, Paco

Clive and Khoff are right. It's Mary who got dizzy. However, with a few changes to your sentence, we can make Jack the "dizzy" party:

"Dizzy, Jack twirled Mary."

"Jack, dizzy, twirled Mary."

"Jack twirled Mary, dizzy."

Miriam

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello Clive, Khof, and Miriam

Thank you for your kind replies.

I found an online [url=http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:31kXS-jx24UJ:www2.dokkyo.ac.jp/~esemi008/prints/English%2520resultatives.pdf+%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%AE%E7%B5%90%E6%9E%9C%E6%A7%8B%E6%96%87&hl=jaa] grammar tip[/url] which suggests that;

"The men twirled the ballerinas dizzy" can be interpreted in four ways:
(1) "The men twirled the ballerinas until they (=the ballerinas) became dizzy",
(2) "The men twirled and (seeing them) the ballerinas became dizzy",
(3) "The men twirled the ballerinas who had already been dizzy", and
(4) "The men were dizzy when they twirled the ballerinas".

I instinctively thought the most common interpretation would be the first one in the case we are not given any context. But I was not sure, and that is why I posted this question. I'm very glad to find all of your replies confirmed my thought.

paco

Davkett · Answer

Was Mary blonde, Paco?

Clive · Answer

Hi,

I think number three is a bit of a stretch.

I guess it's based on a pattern like 'He sailed the ocean blue', but to me it's a stretch too far.

Clive

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello Dave

I see. "Jack twirled Mary dizzy." We could read this sentence this way; 'Mary was as pretty as late Princess Diana and so Jack was dizzy with her beauty all the time when he twirled her in the dance'. Do you mean so?

paco

Paco2004 · Answer

Hello Clive

Thank you for the comment. I agree that the interpretation #3 is not normal. Anyway the complement C in a sentence of the pattern SVC or SVOC is a bit messy for me to interpret because it sometimes talks about the subject (S) and sometimes about the object (O) and furthermore it sometimes talks about the result of the main predicate and sometimes about the condition of the main predicate.

paco

Davkett · Answer

Paco2004 Do you mean so?

Only a wisecrack, Paco. Blondes are often jokingly referred to as 'dizzy blondes'. They're 'twirled' in the head before Jack even gets around to ask them for a dance.

While Miriam was moving the four pieces around (above), I thought I could throw in one more move (requiring no commas, at that!): Jack twirled dizzy Mary.

Paco2004 · Answer

DavkettOnly a wisecrack, Paco. Blondes are often jokingly referred to as 'dizzy blondes'. They're 'twirled' in the head before Jack even gets around to ask them for a dance.

Aha.. I see! Thank you for the nice tip.

paco

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