what is the sentence structure here? (pls see the excerpt below)
English translation: The ashes carried on... carried forth and scattered and carried forth again
| 18:51 Feb 15, 2023 |
| English language (monolingual) [PRO] Art/Literary - Poetry & Literature / grammar question | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| ||||||
|  Selected response from: Nicholas Laurier Eveneshen Portugal Local time: 00:04 | ||||||
Grading comment
| |||||||
| Discussion entries: 8 | |
|---|---|
Answers
13 mins confidence: 
peer agreement (net): +1
peer agreement (net): +1The ashes carried on... carried forth and scattered and carried forth again Explanation: Strictly grammatically, the fourth sentence is incomplete, as it's missing its subject. But in the flow of reading, i.e. in the context of the group of sentences as a whole, stylistically, the subject is indeed "ashes of the late world", which is the same subject then brought into the fifth sentence. -------------------------------------------------- Note added at 26 mins (2023-02-15 19:17:27 GMT) -------------------------------------------------- In other words, yes, it's an incomplete sentence functioning more like a participial phrase, grammatically "scattered" perhaps to match the ashes themselves being scattered as such. |
| ||
Grading comment
| |||
Notes to answerer
| |||
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | |||
11 hrs confidence: 
Ashes carried by winds. Structure: subject-verb-object with adverbial phrase. Explanation: The 4th sentence is a complete sentence with "ashes" as the subject and "carried on" as the verb. The phrase "carried on the bleak and temporal winds to and fro in the void" is an adverbial phrase that describes how the ashes move. |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
19 hrs confidence:
carried (= verb in passive form i.e. = "being carried") // "on" is not part of the verb Explanation: (The ashes of the late world) + (carried) + (on the bleak and temporal winds) + (to and fro in the void). => [around him...] The ashes of the late world (the object of the action) carried (= verb in passive form i.e. = "being carried") on the bleak and temporal winds (= the "agent" of the "carrying action" / subject in the active form) to and fro in the void Rephrasing the whole sentence in the active form of the verb: the bleak and temporal winds (subject) carried ("on their back" verb) The ashes of the late world (object) to and fro in the void Next sentence: Carried forth and scattered and carried forth again = [The ashes of the late world (were being)] carried [on the bleak and temporal winds] forth and scattered and carried forth again. |
| |
| Login to enter a peer comment (or grade) | ||
Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.
You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.
KudoZ™ translation help
The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.
See also:
Search millions of term translations