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Nugso Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Why has in itself been used here?
Hello all.
I am reading "Most Common Errors in English Usage" by Paul Brians and the following sentence confused me;
It is no longer common to say things like “I am persuaded that you are an illiterate fool,” but even this usage is not in itself wrong.
What did the author mean by in itself? Is not the sentence correct even without in itself?
Thank you.
I am reading "Most Common Errors in English Usage" by Paul Brians and the following sentence confused me;
It is no longer common to say things like “I am persuaded that you are an illiterate fool,” but even this usage is not in itself wrong.
What did the author mean by in itself? Is not the sentence correct even without in itself?
Thank you.
Top answer
It's hard to say without seeing the rest of it, but I guess he means that there is nothing grammatically wrong with the sentence. There is something else wrong with it that is not intrinsic to it. That's how you use "in itself".
- It's hard to say without seeing the rest of it, but I guess he means that there is nothing grammatically wrong with the sentence.
- There is something else wrong with it that is not intrinsic to it.
- That's how you use "in itself".
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2 Answers
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It's hard to say without seeing the rest of it, but I guess he means that there is nothing grammatically wrong with the sentence. There is something else wrong with it that is not intrinsic to it. That's how you use "in itself".
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The phrase "in itself" is used as a kind of intensive, for emphasis. Here it emphasizes that the illustrated sentence is seldom heard today but is not wrong. In this particular instance "in itself" cannot be omitted because there is the word "even" present, which here pairs with "in itself" and needs it for completeness.
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