Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mrgiles]

hey i'm stumped by a grammar problem and i'm quite lazy, so i was wondering if any of u grammar buffs could help me out. i'm trying to work out which of the following are correct:

"push the door close"

or

"push the door closed".

or, are they both correct, and mean slightly different things??

cheers in advance...

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Push the door? Why not say, "Close the door?"

Anyway, doors can be described with adjectives: Open or Closed. Close is a verb and has a similar meaning to push, so it's redundant. "Push the door close" is totally incorrect.

[smilehappy]

Push the door closed. It's like saying 'push the door so that it is closed'

[mrgiles]

smilehappy thank you! i believe u're right, and ur answer is so simple that i feel like a dope. i was gettin a bit confused, cos "close" can be a verb - both transitive and intransitive, but it can also be used as an adjective, and also a noun. but "closed" is what i should be going for. ^^

[bacasper]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Are we talking "clohss" (adv., adj.) or "clohzz" (v., n.)? You're moving the goalposts. "Push the door close to me," sort of makes sense but when would you really say it? Are we in a door factory?

[bacasper]

[yingwenlaoshi]

It's probably a case where the very final sound is a "d" and it's not fully pronounced. Go to the "d," but don't finish it. In everyday English, however, we all just say "close" because we just don't care.

[mrgiles]

u got it yingwen!! that's what was giving me all the trouble! u see i'm actually translating a poem, and i had the phrase "push the eyelids close," which sounded better than "push the eyelids closed," but i was still in two minds abt it.

[Pyongshin Sangja]

I should have known better than to get into a discussion with people who "Push the door close."

Lesson learned.

[mrgiles]

there, there, sweetie; it's ok!

i wanted something like "push the door closed" because i not only wanted to signify WHAT to do with the door, but how to do it! obviously when u're talking to a person, u'd assume that they'd understand "close (or shut) the door," but in a narrative situation, sometimes a bit of clarification helps. but thank u for stooping down to my lowly level and deigning to point me in the right direction. ur humble nature is a credit to ur profession.

[mistermasan]

but... it is in a poem and thus poetic license trumps grammar. just ask ee cummings.