A few tentative answers

Posted by Word Camel on June 13, 2003

In Reply to: Some adjectives and dialogues posted by sphinx on June 13, 2003

: Hi,
: Could you please help me with these:
: 1.Can "sketched" be used to modify "reeds"? What does it mean?

To sketch is to draw, so sketched reeds would mean drawings of reeds. Having said this, it is a little unusual and awkward. I'd be interested to see the sentence it came from.
Here's a try at a sentence of my own. The sculpture of the trout did not seem out of place among the sketched reeds and water grasses hanging on the gallery walls.

: 2.Can adjectives be used to modify personal pronouns? Like "real" in this case? Is it correct?
: Show them the real you to them and they will accept you as their friend.

The short answer is yes. For a lucid explanation I defer to other learned contributors

: 3.Can "picturesque" be used to modify "peasants"? e.g.,in this case -
: In books we can join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island.

Yes it can. It means they are like the idealised peasants one might see in a painting.

:
: 4.
: - Did you have a good time at the ball?
: - Yes, but I really couldn't have because I had lots of work to do.
: (Why he says "couldn't" here? I think it should be "shouldn't" because obviously he regrets going to the ball though he was busy that day.)

I think you are right. I think it should be "shouldn't" Could there be a mistake in the text?

: 5.
: - Did you punish him for that?
: - No. I remember how young he was then that I had to excuse him.
: (Is "then that" here a phrase shares the same meaning with "so that"?)

Yes it does, but it would have been a much sentence if it had used "I remember how young he was then so I had to excuse him."

: 6.Why use "at a moment" here? I think it should be "at the moment", which means "now".
: As unemployment is very high at a moment, it's very difficult for people to find work.

This is definitely a typographical error. It should be "the moment" because it is talking about a specific point in time, not just any moment.

• A few tentative answers sphinx 06/13/03
  • Oops! My typo! Word Camel 06/13/03
    • Number 5 TheFallen 06/13/03