Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[ShoHiro]

Hello,

Can the italic-style letters in the following sentences are preposed as in (2)?

(1) a. The salesman visited all the houses in this town door-to-door.
b. My eyes can discern these letters naked.
c. The tax law is enforcedhard-and-fast.
d. The comedian performed stand-up.
e. Still many ships lie sunken in Pearl Harbor.
f. A ship run by human braincould not run rogue or insane...

(2) a. Door-to-door, the salesman visited all the houses in this town.
b. Naked, my eyes can discern these letters.
c. Hard-and-fast, the tax law is enforced.
d. Stand-up, the comedian performed.
e. Sunken, still many ships lie in Pearl Harbor.
f. Rogue or insane, a ship run by human brain could not run.

Some words can be preposed as in (3a, b):

(3) a. John left the room angry.
b. Angry, John left the room.

How about (1) and (2)?

Sincerely,

ShoHiro

[Mister Micawber]

.
I don't like any of #2. Only 2a even sounds possible. Some of your #1 are unnatural too:

(1)
b. My naked eye can discern these letters.
c. The tax law is enforced hard and fast.
d. The comedian performed stand-up. -- stand-up is a pronomial here, for stand-up comedy
e. Still many ships lie sunken in Pearl Harbor. -- sunk is the expected; lie sunken is redundant
f. A ship run by the human brain could not run rogue or insanely
.
_________________
"I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences." � Gertrude Stein
...............
Canadian-American who teaches English for a living at Mr Micawber's

[ShoHiro]

Hello Mister Micawber,

Thank you very much for answering my questions.

I understand your explanation.

Sincerely,
ShoHiro