312. Grammar Command Test 3 (Rewriting)

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Take a short test to measure and increase command of grammar points explained elsewhere in this blog

DESCRIPTION OF THE TEST

This post offers a different kind of test from that in the two earlier Guinlist posts with a title like the above (see 138. Grammar Command Test 1). It presents isolated single or paired sentences and invites rephrasing of each using given wording. Rephrasing involves one or more grammar points from elsewhere within this blog, which are revealed and explained when answers are given.

As the other grammar-testing posts point out, the word “command” better describes the aim of grammar activities than “knowledge” because it suggests, in addition to knowledge of grammar rules, skill in their use. Knowledge alone of grammar rules in a new language is known to be insufficient for avoiding errors from the fact that most people who spend a lot of time and energy acquiring it through memorisation still often make mistakes in real communication (see 202. Some Strategies for Learning English).

Tests that use “rewrite sentences” are not a perfect way of proving command of grammar, but they do seem to have some value in this respect. They also have the value of practising the right way to perform the key skill of paraphrase (see 80. How to Paraphrase).

For a test of appropriacy rather than grammar, see 193. A Test of Formal Language Use. For one of vocabulary, see 273. Verb-Object Collocations.

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THE TEST SENTENCES

How can each highlighted statement below be rephrased so as to accommodate the wording shown next to it? Answers are in the next section.

(a) Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.

Kilimanjaro is higher…

(b) Computers are located on the upper floor.

The floor…

(c) Industry pollutes in many ways.  For example, it discharges effluents.

…such as…

(d) It is not very difficult for cats to climb trees.

Cats do not…

(e) Granite outlasts most other stones.

The durability…is…

(f) Some argue that even electric vehicles cause pollution.

…are argued…

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ANSWERS AND EXPLANATIONS

(a) Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa.

⇒ Kilimanjaro is higher than any other mountain in Africa.

Use in the original sentence of a superlative adjective (highest) indicates that the noun it describes (Kilimanjaro) is being compared with more than one fellow members of its category, mountains in Africa (see the introduction to 305. Wording next to Superlatives). Higher, by contrast, indicates a comparison with just one.

The task, therefore, is to find an expression that allows a comparison with just one idea within the same category rather than a group. This is done above by adding any before mountain, but it could instead be done with all (+ plural mountains).

The word other is a further important addition: without it, there is a suggestion that African mountains exclude Kilimanjaro – that the latter might be in Asia or America, for example, or even be a high building rather than a mountain. Other is not needed in the original sentence because the status of Kilimanjaro as a mountain in Africa is more clearly shown there by is in between (see 220. Features of Complements, #1). For more about other as a category indicator, see 170. Logical Errors in Written English, #4.

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(b) Computers are located on the upper floor.

⇒ The floor where computers are located is the upper one.

In the original sentence, the adjective upper is just before its noun floor. Starting with the floor, however, requires upper to come later, with a link verb like BE in between (see 283. Lesser-Known Features of Adjectives).

The link verb here, added alongside the existing one are located, is is. The result of this addition, the presence of two verbs together in the same sentence, creates a need for special verb-accommodating wording that I have elsewhere called a “joining device” (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). The joining device above is the conjunction where. One could also say The floor containing computers…, where the joining device -ing is attached to a suitable verb without BE in front.

A third possibility is to paraphrase the original verb are located with wording that includes no verb at all, so that all need for a joining device is removed. A simple way to do this is with a preposition phrase (The floor with computers is…).

A second consequence of starting with the floor is a need for the…one with upper. Although, most adjectives can be placed after BE without needing extra words, upper always needs one or ones after it (or kind if describing an uncountable noun). For more about adjectives with this need, see 184. Adjectives with Limited Mobility, especially #4.

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(c) Industry pollutes in many ways. For example, it discharges effluents.

⇒ Industry pollutes in many ways, such as by discharging effluents.

Here, an illustration is worded in two different ways. The idea of “illustration” is indicated first by for example and subsequently by such as. Moreover, for example is in a new sentence after its associated generalization whereas such as is not.

The reason for this latter difference is the grammatical properties of the two expressions. For example is being used as a “connector”, an expression that shows a meaning link between two verb-based statements without combining them physically into a single sentence; whereas such as is a preposition, only able to show a meaning link between nouns inside a single sentence (see 1. Simple Example-Giving).

The preposition status of such as creates a further restriction too: any verb after it needs the -ing (gerund) form rather than a tense-showing form like discharges in the original sentence (see 70. Gerunds, #2). In the above example, discharging also needs by in front. This is because such as is introducing an adverb-like phrase saying how the action of the verb in its sentence (pollutes) occurs (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How).

One other point about for for example is that it is much less restricted than such as. Although such as cannot be used like for example in the original sentence, for example could easily replace such as in the rephrasing. In other words, for example has both a connector and a preposition use (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #4).

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(d) It is not very difficult for cats to climb trees.

⇒ Cats do not find it (to be) very difficult to climb trees.
⇒ Cats do not have much difficulty (with) climbing trees.

Placing cats, the subject of the infinitive verb to climb, before the idea of “difficult” necessitates the use of a verb that can logically and typically link the two. One is find, as in the first rephrasing; the other is have, as in the second. With both, the not originally negating very difficult has to negate them instead.

Cats do not find… requires most of (d) to follow as an object. The starting it can be kept, either between that…is or without these words and optionally followed by to be. Next comes very difficult (without not because that is now at the start), followed by to climb trees (without for cats). For more on converting it sentences into the object of another verb, see 190. Special Uses of “it”, #2.

Using have, by contrast, requires the removal of it and use of the noun difficulty (as the object of have) instead of the adjective difficult. This change necessitates two others: adjective-requiring very before difficult must become noun-allowing much before difficulty; and the verb to climb must become climbing, optionally after with.

It may seem strange that a verb after difficulty should require a different form from one after difficult. There are indeed plenty of examples where a to verb is needed both times (e.g. after able/ ability, free/ freedom and willing/ willingness. However, it is surprisingly common for a noun and its related adjective to require different forms of the same dependent verb, other examples being possible (+ to) versus possibility (+ of…) and useful (+ to) versus usefulness (+ of…) (see 78. Infinitive versus Preposition after Nouns).

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(e) Granite outlasts most other stones.

⇒ The durability of granite is better than that of most other stones.

The prefix out– in verbs usually means “better than” (see 146. Some Important Prefix Types, #3). Thus, the verb outlasts means “lasts better (= longer) than”. Its subject and compulsory object name the two compared ideas.

If the idea of lasting is expressed with a starting noun (durability), that becomes the focus of the comparison, so that two types of durability are being compared rather than two stone types. Each type is indicated by words after durability: of granite in the first case, of most other stones in the second. To avoid repetitiveness, the second use of durability can be replaced by the pronoun that (see 63. Constraints on Using “the one(s)).

The idea of “better than” after durability can be expressed with either an adjective like better (+ than) or the preposition beyond (without than). Their association with durability is best shown by means of a link verb like BE (is above).

Using a verb like outlasts in (e) illustrates how ordinary vocabulary can quite often replace a grammar structure expressing a particular meaning (here -er than in comparisons: see 298. Grammar Meanings without Grammar, #8).

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(f) Some argue that even electric vehicles cause pollution.

⇒ Even electric vehicles are argued by some to cause pollution.

Sentence (f) reports a statement in the common manner by placing it after a mention of its source (some) followed by a reporting verb (argue) + that…. In the rephrasing, by contrast, the passive form of the reporting verb has as its subject the wording that was originally the subject of the verb in the reported statement (electric vehicles).

This change necessitates putting the replaced subject (some) into a by phrase after argued, and giving the verb in the reported statement the to (infinitive) form (to cause). Such rephrasing is quite commonly possible with verbs that report statements with that (see 299. Infinitives after a Passive Verb, #2).

The meaning of by some in the rephrasing could alternatively be expressed with the adverb sometimes, positioned either in the same place or at the start of the sentence.

311. Exotic Grammar Structures 9

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Some English grammar structures are unlikely to be described in language coursebooks

THE NATURE OF “EXOTIC” STRUCTURES

English has surprisingly many grammar structures that are not commonly found in language coursebooks, so that they could be called “exotic”. Some structures are of this kind because they have not been clearly identified by grammarians. Many others, though, are ignored by course designers because they are rare. There is usually insufficient space to cover the whole of English grammar, and the more common structures are preferred in the belief that this will give learners the greatest chance of success in future communication.

However, structures that are not commonly found in language-learning coursebooks can still be useful to know, especially for English users with a more advanced competence, who are the target audience of this blog. It is in this belief that posts like the present one are offered. Five exotic structures feature below. To access the other posts, see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures 1.

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STRUCTURE LIST

1. Just When

EXAMPLES

(a) Just when the economy was recovering, bad weather destroyed the harvest.

(b) The survivors were rescued just when the weather deteriorated.

Just when is understandable in two very different ways, depending on what the rest of its sentence says. The more basic meaning – not present above – is just that of an ordinary when combined with just meaning “precisely”, like this:

(c) The eggs were photographed just when the chicks were hatching.

The words after just when in such sentences typically mention a rare brief occurrence located somewhere within a long time period: most people who look at eggs fail to see them hatching.

On the other hand, just when in sentences like (a) and (b) helps to make a contrast between good and bad. In (a), a good event is named after just when, with a bad one named in the rest of the sentence, while in (b) the reverse happens. The position of the part with just when is not a factor here: it could be first or second in both (a) and (b).

Indicating a contrast, however, is only part of what just when does in sentences like (a) and (b). In addition, it associates the event in the other half of its sentence with either disappointment or relief. In (a), where the event in the other half (…destroyed the harvest) is disastrous, there is a suggestion of disappointment given the good situation in the just when part; in (b), a happy event in the other half (The survivors were rescued…) is suggested to be a relief in view of the threatening just when occurrence.

I would suggest that just when in (a) and (b) is not simply just + when, but is rather a single “multi-word” conjunction (see 230.  Multi-Word Conjunctions).

 

2. Complement Starting a Relative Clause

EXAMPLE

(d) Socrates, philosopher that he was, had a keen interest in words.

The underlined words here include the relative pronoun that within a statement comprising a subject pronoun (he), verb (was) and subject-describing complement (philosopher). This latter is located at the start rather than the end – a rare but not impossible complement position (see 220. Features of Complements, #6).

Two other noticeable points are firstly the position of the relative pronoun after the complement philosopher – unusual because relative pronouns do not normally go inside the statement that they belong to – and secondly the lack before philosopher (a countable noun) of the expected article a. The relative pronoun is always that.

A more typical wording of the underlined part of (d) would be who was a philosopher. However, this would change the meaning. One difference is the degree of familiarity that the reader is implied to have with the information involved: the wording in (d) implies that the reader already knows Socrates was a philosopher, while the alternative implies the opposite and would hence be providing that information along with the main point being made.

The other meaning difference is that the underlined information in (d) is clearly marked as a hardly surprising cause of the main information. There is not much surprise because the consequence is a predictable result of the cause – having an interest in words is typical of philosophers.

How might the following sentences be made like (d)?

(e) The diesel engine, which is a polluter, will soon be phased out.

(f) Most shoppers, who are bargain-seekers, look first at commodity prices.

The respective rewordings are polluter that it is and bargain-seekers that they are.

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3. “At” + Possessive + Superlative Adjective

EXAMPLE

(g) Markets are at their busiest in summer.

Superlative adjectives (with -est or most) express a difference between the noun idea that are they are describing (markets above) and either multiple noun ideas of a similar kind (e.g. shops, websites and even other markets) or the same noun idea in multiple different situations (e.g. in spring and autumn rather than in summer).

In many cases, readers can make the right choice between these two possibilities on the basis of logic or a linguistic clue or both. A major linguistic clue to a comparison with similar noun ideas is their mention in the previous sentence(s). A fairly reliable linguistic clue to the other kind of comparison is absence of the between a link verb like BE and the superlative adjective – saying, for example, Markets are busiest… in (g) (see 305. Wording next to Superlatives, #2).

However, the use of the is a clue that can be quite easily missed, and the inability of the to be dropped when it is not after BE (as in The busiest markets are…) neutralises the clue altogether. Placing the superlative after at + possessive – at their busiest above – is a clear way of indicating that something is being compared with itself at different times, regardless of the superlative’s position. Without a separating BE, the at phrase would directly  follow its noun (markets at their busiest); otherwise, it would follow BE (…are at their busiest).

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4. “Much as”

EXAMPLES

(h) Prepositions can introduce adverbial information, much as conjunctions do.

(i) Much as the world has changed, people behave the same.

As in these sentences introduces information that the reader is assumed to know already. In (h), conjunctions after it is aimed at clarifying a statement about something similar, prepositions (see 159. Exotic Grammar Structures 2, #1). As means “in the same way as”. In (i), the state of the world is associated with an unexpected outcome: as means “although”.

These differences affect the adverb much. In (h), it relates to all of the subsequent as statement, similarly to “sentence” adverbs (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs). It could without much meaning change be replaced by exactly. In (i), however, much relates more closely to the following verb (has changed). It is not logically replaceable by exactly, but means “greatly”.

Much cannot follow as. However, sentences like (i) allow though instead of as, and then much can go either before it or with the later verb (see 228. Exotic Grammar Structures 5, #5).

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5. Separated Subject of a Cited Statement

EXAMPLE

(j) Hydrogen is held (by X) to be the likeliest future means of powering motor vehicles.

Citing a statement in this way is an alternative to doing so with that (X holds that hydrogen is….), which English coursebooks tend to present as standard. In this alternative method, the citation verb (is held) is in the passive voice, and the source of the cited statement (X) is mentioned, if necessary, after a subsequent by. The subject of the cited statement (hydrogen) then takes over as the subject of the citation verb, with its original verb put into the to (infinitive) form (to be above instead of is).

The value of this sort of structure is that it enables the subject of a cited statement to begin the sentence in situations where that is desirable. A common such situation is where the idea represented by the subject noun has been mentioned just before, so that it has become familiar to the addressee – a feature that English speakers typically feel most naturally fits the start of a sentence (see 156. Mentioning what the Reader Knows Already, #10).

English has numerous verbs that can introduce a cited statement. However, not all of them can be used as in sentence (j). Those that can tend to be also usable with that. Further examples are ARGUE, BELIEVE, CONSIDER, DENY, INDICATE, REPORT, SAY and THINK. Various other verbs, however, can make sentences very like (j), differing only in requiring as instead of to be. Examples are CATEGORISE, CRITICISE, DEFINE, DESCRIBE, HIGHLIGHT, IMAGINE, REJECT, TREAT and VIEW. For more examples in both categories, see 299. Infinitives after a Passive Verb.

Citation verbs that would be difficult to fit into a sentence like (j) include BLAME, COMPLAIN, PROMISE (+ action), REFUSE (+ action) and REFUTE.

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6. Adverbial Noun Phrase with Causal Meaning

EXAMPLE

(k) The people in charge, the operation was bound to fail.

The underlined noun phrase here must have an adverbial role because it is not in a normal noun position (within or forming the subject, object or complement of a verb, and with no preposition before it). Such usage is not often grammatical – only special meanings allow it. A familiar one elsewhere is time-point expressions like last week and the day after tomorrow. The special meaning here is causal. There is, indeed, the possibility of adding because of at the start.

Only special nouns can be used in a sentence like (k). They seem to mostly correspond to question words. People, for example, corresponds to who. If the underlined words above were replaced by the way it was managed, the correspondence would be to how; The time it took would correspond to how long; The money it cost implies how much. For lists of nouns corresponding to question words, see 185. Noun Synonyms of Question Words.

The start of a sentence seems the most typical position of such causal noun phrases, but the end is often possible too (only the people in charge seems an unlikely mover among the examples above).