TA的每日心情 | 开心 2019-12-18 19:08 |
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签到天数: 5 天 [LV.2]偶尔看看I
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––How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?––1 k" G& L/ V- W% z w$ d4 C/ F
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& d m- I- a' f; y/ h) zLogically, a person can be careless, but a match can not be. ( And in my first language Chinese the equivalent or parallel expression is not allowed. You have to speak at least like this: a carelessly thrown match can start ...). But this is a common and economical way in English communication.
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I was wondering when one can use an adjective which is essentially related to mankind to qualify an inanimate concrete noun?" j* R) c& p6 m9 `( X" l1 O
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" l+ M- ]( M) I4 D6 t& S/ G0 C! w4 wI have once written “an easy understanding” and similar phrases, but "understanding" is an abstract noun and obviously a human action.
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