I have a question.

[PSALMORUM]

These two sentences have gramatical errors.

I can't find the errors.

Please help me.


* He stood on the doorway, the coat over the arm.

* Can I pay by month?

[Ouisch]

He stood in the doorway, his coat over his arm.

Can I pay by the month? (This could also be corrected to say "May I pay by the month?")

[Coffa]

You could also say "He stood in the doorway, the coat over his arm." The coat might not belong to him - it depends on the context.

[nyggus]

"He stood in the doorway, the coat over his arm."

Hi All:
Is this a grammatically correct sentence? Shouldn't it be just "with the coat over his arm"? I think the sentence gave by Coffa is a kind of sentence that would be used in belles-lettres, but normally one would probably use the "with" construction. Am I right?

Thanks,
Nyggus

[Coffa]

Hi Nyggus,

Obviously, others may have their own views, but I do not regard my sentence as poetic usage - it is perfectly standard. In fact, the construction could be extended as far as "He stood in the doorway, coat over arm." It would still be standard grammatical usage.

[nyggus]

Thanks, Coffa. I looked for this usage in some books and found that it is indeed used. It's a special construction and I hadn't heard (more precisely, noticed) it before this discussion; this is why I was surprised.
Thanks again,
Nyggus