Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[susan_wu]

Hello,

I came across a strange sentence which is writen in a novel:

'I was waiting for it to happen, when the little clock over the fireplace in the study struck two o'clock."

I can't understand why it should say: over the fireplace in the study struck?

What 's it mean?

Thanks a lot.

[bud]

Susan, your confusion appears to be the word "struck." It is the past tense of the verb "to strike," and is referring to the action of the clock. So you could simplify the sentence to make it clearer:

"I was waiting for it to happen, when the little clock struck two o'clock."

(To strike two o'clock means that the clock makes a special noise at each hour, and maybe a lesser noise at each half-hour).

From there, you could add in the other phrases:

Where was the clock? over (above) the fireplace

Where was the fireplace? in the study (den)

Hope that helps!

[susan_wu]

Thanks, bud,

My real confusion is the word "study". I never know it also has this meaning "den".

Thank you very much for your help.