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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007"You will find it a difficult book"?
Hi, Is the following sentence correct? "You will find it a difficult book." ---------------- A learner asked this question at a forum, and I managed to find this sentence at a English-Chinese dictionary website. Personally, I don't quite trust those website, but still, I want to make sure this sentence is ok before I dismiss it. Thanks! --DJ Not a native speaker of English > Hi, > > Is the following sentence correct? > > "You will find it a difficult book." Just fine. It means that "you" will probably have difficulty reading the book in question, either because the writing makes it hard to read or because the topic is difficult to understand.  SignatureEvan Kirshenbaum +------------------------------------ HP Laboratories |Ye knowe ek, that in forme of speche 1501 Page Mill Road, 1U, MS 1141 | is chaunge Palo Alto, CA 94304 |Withinne a thousand yer, and wordes | tho kirshenbaum@hpl.hp.com |That hadden prys now wonder nyce and (650)857-7572 | straunge |Us thenketh hem, and yet they spake http://www.kirshenbaum.net/ | hem so | Chaucer >> Hi, >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > the book in question, either because the writing makes it hard to read > or because the topic is difficult to understand. It's worth mentioning that this structure is standard, especially in written English, after such verbs as "find", "think", "declare", etc. "He thought himself a very good writer." "The chairman declared the meeting closed." "I pronounce you man and wife." SignatureMike. -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com > >> Hi, > >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > "The chairman declared the meeting closed." > "I pronounce you man and wife." Just so. They are normal and understandable elisions of "You will find it [to be] a difficult book", "He thought himself [to be] a very good writer" and so on. > >> Hi, > >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > "The chairman declared the meeting closed." > "I pronounce you man and wife." Interesting sentence form.[1] There are lots of ditransitive verbs in English, i.e., verbs that take both a direct and an indirect object: I gave her a book. She showed me her new blouse. I made my teacher a gift. But sometimes the direct and indirect object are the same entity. Mike's first and third examples are of that type, as is the subject-line sentence, as is "I made my teacher an object of my affection." "It" and "a difficult book" are the same thing, and that's true of the other examples mentioned in this paragraph. I'm not sure what to make of this, but it seemed worthy of note. I'm sure Curme has an excellent discussion, full of latinate grammar, but it's time for dinner. [1] Mike's second example doesn't fit the pattern -- its form is subject/verb/direct object/participial adjective. SignatureBob Lieblich I declare myself a success >>>>Hi, >>>> [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > [1] Mike's second example doesn't fit the pattern -- its form is > subject/verb/direct object/participial adjective. Should have been "The chairman declared the meeting a waste of time". SignatureRob Bannister .... <snipped> .... >> "He thought himself a very good writer." >> "The chairman declared the meeting closed." [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > affection." "It" and "a difficult book" are the same thing, and > that's true of the other examples mentioned in this paragraph. Another question the learner asked was if the subject-line sentence fits the pattern of "Subject + Verb + Direct Object + (Object) Complement". (Or... the indirect object also serves as an object complement?) Thanks! --DJ Thank you all for the answers! Thank God I did the right thing (by asking it here first) before I made a fool out of myself. -- DJ > Hi, > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > quite trust those website, but still, I want to make sure this sentence > is ok before I dismiss it. As Evan says, it is fine. |
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