Replace A Plural Noun With "those Of"

[Jesule]

Hi! How is it going!. Have a marvelous Saturday night!




1.- I heard desperate yells. They sounded like THE YELLS of my
friend when she was drowning in the river.

2.- I heard desperate yells. They sounded like THOSE OF my
friend when she was drowning in the river.


I would like not to repeat the plural noun "THE YELLS" ´cause
I used it in the sentence before "I heard desperate YELLS".
I know there´s a way to avoid that, but I don´t know
If I did it right with "THOSE OF". Maybe it´s "THOSE ONES
OF", or something similar. Help me, please!

Thanks a million!

Jesús.

[Coffa]

"Those of" is correct, but it sounds rather stilted to me. Also, are you sure that you are using "when" correctly in this sentence? The meaning it conveys is that you are reporting a time in the past, and at that past time, you hear yells and they remind you of WHEN your friend was drowning AT AN EVEN EARLIER TIME in the past.

This meaning is possible, but I suspect you may have intended to convey that the yells sounded like they came from your friend, and so she was drowning AT THE TIME you 'heard desperate yells'.

If so, the sentence should be:
"I heard desperate yells. They sounded like they came from my friend, drowning in the river."

It is grammatically possible to use "sounded like" to transfer the subject noun here, so you could also simplify the sentence to:
"I heard desperate yells. They sounded like my friend, drowning in the river."

Compare with: "Did you hear that? It sounded like Bob."

The latter is the most natural-sounding construction, in my opinion.

[Jesule]

Hi! Thanks for all your replies. I think you are right. The second sentence is what I was trying to say. But, I think I would use "AS IF"
instead of "LIKE". Like requires a noun, I am afraid. But I am not sure.
However, "AS IF" is always followed by a sentence. That´s the case. Correct me if I am wrong.

"They sounded as if they came from my friend..."

And, what If I said:

"I heard desperate yells. They sounded like those of my friend
drowing in the river (last week)"?
Do you think this sentence is right?

If you realize, We don´t know
when he was drowing. I can add "last week" for instance. It happened in a past time,
but we don´t know it. Both actions happened
in a past time. I omitted when because I think
I was wrong as you said to me before.

Thanks again!

Jesús

Originally Posted by Coffa

"Those of" is correct, but it sounds rather stilted to me. Also, are you sure that you are using "when" correctly in this sentence? The meaning it conveys is that you are reporting a time in the past, and at that past time, you hear yells and they remind you of WHEN your friend was drowning AT AN EVEN EARLIER TIME in the past.
This meaning is possible, but I suspect you may have intended to convey that the yells sounded like they came from your friend, and so she was drowning AT THE TIME you 'heard desperate yells'.
If so, the sentence should be:
"I heard desperate yells. They sounded like they came from my friend, drowning in the river."
It is grammatically possible to use "sounded like" to transfer the subject noun here, so you could also simplify the sentence to:
"I heard desperate yells. They sounded like my friend, drowning in the river."
Compare with: "Did you hear that? It sounded like Bob."
The latter is the most natural-sounding construction, in my opinion.