help analyze a sentence

[enydia]

Hello, Teachers.

I saw the following sentence on MU's offical website:
The United boss wants his side in as strong a position as possibly come the turn of the year.
(link: NEWS AND FEATURES: Sir Alex targets 90 points - Manchester United Official Web Site)

I have two questions about this sentence.

(1) Is 'in as strong a position as possibly' correct? I think it should be 'in an as strong position as possible'.

(2) What's the meaning of 'come the turn of the year'? I think this sentence is something odd for there are two predicates, want and come, but I don't know what's the relation between them.

Can you give me some advice?

Thanks in advance.

Enydia *^_^*

[fromatto]

Originally Posted by enydia

Hello, Teachers.

I saw the following sentence on MU's offical website:
The United boss wants his side in as strong a position as possibly come the turn of the year.
(link: NEWS AND FEATURES: Sir Alex targets 90 points - Manchester United Official Web Site)

I have two questions about this sentence.

(1) Is 'in as strong a position as possibly' correct? I think it should be 'in an as strong position as possible'.

(2) What's the meaning of 'come the turn of the year'? I think this sentence is something odd for there are two predicates, want and come, but I don't know what's the relation between them.

Can you give me some advice?

Thanks in advance.

Enydia *^_^*

(1) It should be 'possible'.

(2) It means 'when the new year comes', at the end of December.

[enydia]

Originally Posted by fromatto

(1) It should be 'possible'.

(2) It means 'when the new year comes', at the end of December.

Thank you, Fromatto.

I can understand the meaning of this sentence, but I'm confused about the sentence structure. Is 'come' a predicate? If it is, what's its subject?

ps: Where are our avatars?

*^_^*

[enydia]

Hi, Teachers.

I'm still confused about two questions.

(1) Is 'as strong a position as possible' grammatical? In my opinion, it should be 'an as strong position as possible'.

(2) What are the subject and object of the verb 'come'?

Looking forward to your reply.

Enydia

[2006]

Originally Posted by enydia

Hi, Teachers.

I'm still confused about two questions.

(1) Is 'as strong a position as possible' grammatical? yes
In my opinion, it should be 'an as strong position as possible'. Nobody says that.

(2) What are the subject the turn of the year and object no object of the verb 'come'?
'come the turn of the year' means when the turn of the year comes.

Looking forward to your reply.

Enydia

2006

[enydia]

Originally Posted by 2006

2006

Thank you very much!

I have one more question:
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary treats this sense of 'come' as an informal usage. And I found the sentence in news. So in english, news is informal, isn't it?

[2006]

Originally Posted by enydia

Thank you very much!

I have one more question:
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary treats this sense of 'come' as an informal usage. I wouldn't necessarily say it's informal. It's a not very common but perfectly acceptable usage. 'Come spring, I hope to have a new job.'

And I found the sentence in news. So in english, news is informal, isn't it? Sometimes it is, but mostly news headlines often use informal/shortened English.

2006

[enydia]

Originally Posted by 2006

2006

Ah, that accounts for it! Small wonder that I usually found the headlines much more confusing than the text.

Thank you very much!

[tzfujimino]

Originally Posted by enydia

Hello, Teachers.

I(1) Is 'in as strong a position as possibly' correct? I think it should be 'in an as strong position as possible'.

Hi, enydia.
I'm now referring to Practical English Usage - Second Edition(Michael Swan). I'll give you some information on adjectives. On page 12 it says :


adjectives: position after as, how, so, too

Normally adjectives go after the article a/an.

a beautiful voice

But after as, how, so, too and this/that meaning so, adjectives go before a/an. This structure is common in a formal style.

as/how/so/too/this/that + adjective + a/an + noun

I have as good a voice as you.
How good a pianist is he?
It was so warm a day that I could hardly work.
She is too polite a person to refuse.
I couldn't afford that big a car.

The structure is not possible without a/an

I like your country - it's so beautiful.
(NOT I like your so beautiful country.)
Those girls are too kind to refuse.
(NOT They are too kind girls to refuse.)


I hope it will be a great help to you.

[enydia]

Originally Posted by tzfujimino

Hi, enydia.
I'm now referring to Practical English Usage - Second Edition(Michael Swan). I'll give you some information on adjectives. On page 12 it says :


adjectives: position after as, how, so, too

Normally adjectives go after the article a/an.

a beautiful voice

But after as, how, so, too and this/that meaning so, adjectives go before a/an. This structure is common in a formal style.

as/how/so/too/this/that + adjective + a/an + noun

I have as good a voice as you.
How good a pianist is he?
It was so warm a day that I could hardly work.
She is too polite a person to refuse.
I couldn't afford that big a car.

The structure is not possible without a/an

I like your country - it's so beautiful.
(NOT I like your so beautiful country.)
Those girls are too kind to refuse.
(NOT They are too kind girls to refuse.)


I hope it will be a great help to you.

Thanks a bunch!

I always get more than I want in my post.
I love this nice forum!