Question
Aggiornato il
19 mag 2017
- Coreano
-
Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Domande Inglese (Stati Uniti)
"paint the statue from the toes upwards on" sembra naturale?
"paint the statue from the toes upwards on" sembra naturale?
Risposte
19 mag 2017
Domanda in primo piano
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
- Francese (Francia) Quasi esperto
Un po' strano
"Paint the statue from the toes up" is more natural.
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- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
- Francese (Francia) Quasi esperto
Un po' strano
"Paint the statue from the toes up" is more natural.
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- Coreano
@nikolaej thank you!
can i add "on" at the end to convey "continously"?
can i add "on" at the end to convey "continously"?
- Coreano
@nikolaej so it would be
paint the statue from the toes up on
paint the statue from the toes up on
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
- Francese (Francia) Quasi esperto
Un po' strano
It doesn't sound natural. Saying from the toes up already implies you will finish the statue, because you didn't say an end point. :)
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- Coreano
- Coreano
@nikolaej i just founded a sentence which is "he was fully naked from the waist down on".
now im super confused..
i can't say "he started to take off cloths from his waist down on"????
now im super confused..
i can't say "he started to take off cloths from his waist down on"????
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Non naturale
@fluffyhusky OK, fluffy, let's clear this up a bit:
"from the X [on] up”/"from the X [on] down"
These are two common patterns in English. Very commonly, for the “up” one you can use “ground” or “bottom”:
→“from the bottom up” (You can use “on” but, for some reason, it is not very common.)
→“from the ground up”
(If you add “on” for “on up” it means at every point from where you start to where you finish)
Using “toes” (like in your sentence) sounds perfect.
You're right—you can add “on” to some verbs and add the nuance of “continuing” or “persisting”—“go on,” “fight on,” “keep on”—but this phrase “from the X up” is an adverbial phrase—it tells how or where to paint the statue. So you can’t add “on” to it. like you can to a verb (I think that's the reason).
“from the X [on] down”
→ from the top [on] down (this is probably the most common version)
→ from the waist on down
“from the waist down on” [X - wrong]
You can use “on” with other adverbs in similar ways:
“The epidemic spread from the center of the city on out.”
“They searched from the exterior of the house on in.”
Does that answer your questions?
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- Coreano
@jeffw ohhh.......
can you explain a little more about "on adverb(up, down, in, out)"?
can you explain a little more about "on adverb(up, down, in, out)"?
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Non naturale
@fluffyhusky OK, fluffy, two things—I hope it’s clear:
MEANING (in this grammatical situation]:
“on” + [adverb] has the nuance of “everything” in that range (from the start to the finish).
So
“naked from the waist down” - just directional (the person has clothes from the waist up but not from the waist down)
“naked from the waist on down” - has a slight nuance of every part from the waist down
“He painted from the top down” - directional (he did not start at the bottom)
“He painted from the top on down” - he worked his way down, painting everything (it’s a little more about the way he worked—you can think he worked his way downward, step by step—it’s a bit like that)
There a tendency in English to add “on” when you are making it clear that “everyone” or “everything” is involved:
“They fired everyone, from the CEO on down.” (It’s not just the direction—each and every person was fired.)
“He ate everything on the menu, from the appetizer on down.” (It’s not just that he started at the appetizer and went “down” the menu—he ate everything, nothing was left uneaten.)
GRAMMAR (this one is tricky but important)
Two similar looking but completely different grammatical patterns (you can get this!):
(a) “Starting at the top he painted on, down to the bottom.” vs. (b) “He painted from the top on down to the bottom.”
(a) “Starting at the top he painted on, down to the bottom.” ( = he started at the top and *continued to paint* until he got to the bottom)
Think of these as two phrases (they are):
“painted on” + “down to the bottom”
continued to paint + the direction
You cannot, CANNOT put a noun in between “paint” and “on”:
“He painted the statue on.” [for “he continued to paint the statue - WRONG—it’s really wrong.]
Similar:
“He read the book on.” [for “he continued to read the book” - WRONG]
“He wrote the letter on.”[for “he continued to write the letter” - WRONG]
Special case VERB + NOUN + “on”(I’m not sure if it is an exception or a different situation)
Examples:
“He urged his friend on“ [he urged his friend to continue - PERFECTLY OK]
“He pushed the dogs [pulling the sled] on.” [he pushed the dogs to continue - PERFECTLY OK] [push = cause sb/sth forcibly to do something]
What's the difference? Why are these OK? The subject is causing the object to continue.
That gives you an idea of why “paint the statue on” or “read the book on” sounds so wrong. The statue or the book aren't doing anything—they’re not “continuing”! And “painting” or “reading” aren't verbs that cause people or things to do something.
(b) “He painted [the statue] from the top on down to the bottom.”
“He painted [the statue] ” + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE (how he painted - “from the top on down to the bottom.”)
Here, “painted” and “on” are not connected grammatically. “On down to the bottom” just describes how he painted. It’s just like saying “he painted carefully” (how) or “he painted in Seoul” (where) or “he painted on Tuesday” (when).
Even a sentence like
“He painted on, on down to the bottom”
is right grammatically. and you can understand it.
I hope that helps and isn't too confusing.
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- Coreano
@jeffw oh i overlooked your answer and found just now. sorry!
and thank you a million!! you are the best amswerer ever lol
and thank you a million!! you are the best amswerer ever lol
- Inglese (Stati Uniti)
Non naturale
@fluffyhusky You’re welcome! (I thought because you did not answer, maybe you did not like it.) Maybe I should have been an English teacher! :)
My answer was long but I hope it helped you. :) It’s hard to tell the difference between “He turned off the radio” and “He turned off the road” but there is a big difference. You’ll get it!
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