Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Broken
Hello.
Do you think that "be" verbs before "broken" in the following sentences are substitutable with "remain", "seem" or "look" as in 3 and 4?
1. “The government is unable to present any factual evidence that the ship was broken in half by a torpedo,”
2. Lilianna Nguyen, a recent Stanford graduate, dressed formally in high heels, was trying to teach a sixth-grade math class about negative numbers. She’d prepared definitions to be copied down, but the projector was broken.
3. “The government is unable to present any factual evidence that the ship seemed / looked broken in half by a torpedo,”
4. She’d prepared definitions to be copied down, but the projector remained / looked broken.
Thank you in advance.
Do you think that "be" verbs before "broken" in the following sentences are substitutable with "remain", "seem" or "look" as in 3 and 4?
1. “The government is unable to present any factual evidence that the ship was broken in half by a torpedo,”
2. Lilianna Nguyen, a recent Stanford graduate, dressed formally in high heels, was trying to teach a sixth-grade math class about negative numbers. She’d prepared definitions to be copied down, but the projector was broken.
3. “The government is unable to present any factual evidence that the ship seemed / looked broken in half by a torpedo,”
4. She’d prepared definitions to be copied down, but the projector remained / looked broken.
Thank you in advance.
Top answer
No, not at all. The sentences state the presence (or absence) of physical evidence. Seem and look express a personal opinion, while remain requires contextual evidence of an earlier investigation.
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No, not at all. The sentences state the presence (or absence) of physical evidence. Seem and look express a personal opinion, while remain requires contextual evidence of an earlier investigation.
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