Six's English Thread

[G33ke]

I also wrote in my response to Zenos answer that i dont think there are feminine and masculine adjectives. even if there were, a feminine adjective could be used on a male since it is simply describing him in a feminine way. Same thing with a object.

It's not the adjectives that refer to the painting as a female: It's the blatant usage of the word "her" in "trying her best", which refer to the painting.

The last thing we need is to go into detail on what defines a "her". That's territory we shouldn't touch for obvious reasons. (...)

 

[MrJaskirat]

No, I know adjectives can be applied to objects, but the diction used would make no sense in the context of the sentence, as those specific characteristics could not realistically be applied to a painting. Additionally, those adjectives were clearly intended to modify a subject with a female gender (indicated by the "her"), and, as a painting is considered gender neutral, those adjectives could not apply to it. Grammatically, there is nothing in the sentence those adjectives are able to modify in a sensible manner, and thus the sentence is incorrect.

Also, I'm a guy. lol

firstly, sorry about confusing you with a girl. whats with these guys having girl profile pics, much confuse, such akwardness XD

Also, I really cant be bothered trying to translate your answer into readable english so im just gonna ask, are you saying that because he is calling the painting a "her" and calling it hardworking,etc, the sentence is wrong?

Sorry guys for brain strain, i probably either read zenos answer wrong, or he worded it wrongly cause he was rushing.

 

[Zeno]

firstly, sorry about confusing you with a girl. whats with these guys having girl profile pics, much confuse, such akwardness XD

Also, I really cant be bothered trying to translate your answer into readable english so im just gonna ask, are you saying that because he is calling the painting a "her" and calling it hardworking,etc, the sentence is wrong?

Sorry guys for brain strain, i probably either read zenos answer wrong, or he worded it wrongly cause he was rushing.

Paintings are not shes. They are not hardworking. They do not try their best. The adjectives do not apply.

 

[Tacoface1234]

firstly, sorry about confusing you with a girl. whats with these guys having girl profile pics, much confuse, such akwardness XD

Also, I really cant be bothered trying to translate your answer into readable english so im just gonna ask, are you saying that because he is calling the painting a "her" and calling it hardworking,etc, the sentence is wrong?

Sorry guys for brain strain, i probably either read zenos answer wrong, or he worded it wrongly cause he was rushing.

Actually, I think I see your point. On a technical level, the sentence could still be grammatically correct, even if a painting shouldn't be hardworking or female on a literal level.

With that in mind, I might know what is actually wrong. "Trying her best" and "was the prettiest" demonstrate an inconsistency with tenses. The first example is present tense, the second is past? If this is true, a better way to write the sentence would be

Being hardworking and always having tried her best, the dedicated and scrupulous girl's painting was the prettiest and most detailed in the whole class.

 

[G33ke]

Paintings are not shes. They are not hardworking. They do not try their best. The adjectives do not apply.

Wellll...
Theoretically speaking, giving personification to inanimate objects in writing isn't an uncommon practice in fiction or creative nonfiction, and isn't "incorrect."


Come to think of it...
Technically speaking...ever heard people call a boat for example, a she? "She's a hardworking ship, ain't she? If only I'd the chance to sail 'er." This is not an incorrect sentence as far as I can tell, at least not in usage of adjectives towards a boat. Sentences like these are used in fiction all the time, though admittedly it's dialogue, and technically the character isn't using correct grammar himself. Is there a way to tell if's proper in this case? My head hurts a little from all this. z.z
I guess the truth lies in whether there is a way to tell if these adjectives are meant to refer to the girl or the painting. One would assume "her" would refer to the girl, since the girl is the only confirmed female in the sentence, but I'm not sure that's enough to justify it. Of all things to refer to as a specific gender, something you've worked long and hard on that has a sense of character, like a painting, would be easy to call a her, and maybe even hardworking in the right cases.

Edit: Post has been edited a bit to make more sense. Had a bit of an error there for a moment.

 

[themastern00b]

All of this is making my head hurt

 

[Tacoface1234]

I guess the truth lies in whether there is a way to tell if these adjectives are meant to refer to the girl or the painting. One would assume "her" would refer to the girl, since the girl is the only confirmed female in the sentence, but I'm not sure that's enough to justify it.

They are probably adverbs, modifying the adjective "girl's". Same as "dedicated" and "scrupulous"

Another possibility (I hope this one isn't true, otherwise we have wasted far too much time looking waaaay too far into this) maybe the first two adverbs "Hardworking" and "always trying her best" are unnecessary, as "dedicated" and "scrupulous" have a very similar meaning to the first two adverbs. In this case, you could just remove the first bit

hardworking and always trying her best

for a much cleaner sentence

the dedicated and scrupulous girl's painting was the prettiest and most detailed in the whole class

Oh! I've got another. "Hardworking and always trying her best" is an adverb clause, or is supposed to be, but it is lacking a subject to go with the verb "trying" and a subordinate conjunction to stop it from being a complete thought, making it dependent on the rest of the sentence. If you completed the adverb clause, it would read like so.

Because she was hardworking and always trying her best, the dedicated and scrupulous girl's painting was the prettiest and most detailed in the whole class.

 

[MrJaskirat]

I stopped reading all of this literacy logic because i hav enough english homework as it is. But my answer is terms like dedicated is given to the painting. locked in.

 

[Lululioness]

i feel dumb

 

[MrJaskirat]

i feel dumb

dont worry, its just a bunch of guys using big smart words to say things in a more advanced way than needed. Its called making dumb stuff sound smart, one of the greatest sins of modern english, in my teachers opinion XD

 

[Zietra]

i feel dumb

You're not alone..

 

[darkai202]

Gustav Mahikano

my commas are ready