[Grammar] A person is uprightly honest who does not steal things from an unguarded villa

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Matthew Wai

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"A person who does not steal things from an unguarded villa with the door open is uprightly honest."
"A person is uprightly honest who does not steal things from an unguarded villa with the door open."

Are they both grammatical?
 
The second is not natural.

The first is grammatically correct, but 'uprightly honest' is not a natural collocation.
 
The second is not natural...
The construction of the second one can sometimes be seen in newspapers, should it be avoided instead of imitated?
 
Examples please.
...the government should, adhering to the principle that "a cat is good that catches mice regardless of whether it is black or white", adopt it and...
 
...the government should, adhering to the principle that "a cat is good that catches mice regardless of whether it is black or white", adopt it and...
It should be avoided. That does not sound like something from a British, Irish, North American or Australian/NZ newspaper.
 
It sounds like an aphorism or proverb, which often have a stilted feel to it. "Lucky is he who is content with what he has no matter how meager" etc. And you'll see that the newspaper put it in quotes, to show that it wasn't natural speech, but a quote of a saying.

(For what it's worth, I don't think failing to steal something deserves high praise. It's what a normal human being would do in my experience.)
 
It is actually a translation of a Chinese saying.
Even if it was translated by a native speaker of English, there is no guarantee that the result is natural English. The translater may have wished to give it an 'oriental' flavour'
Is "lucky is he" an inversion?
Please ask questions about different sentences in a fresh thread.
 
Last edited:
Please ask questions about different sentences in a fresh thread.
The sentence below is different but its construction is similar, perhaps it can remain in this thread.
"The person died who had won the badminton title last year."
Should "died" be put after "year"?

Even if it was translated by a native speaker of English, there is no guarantee that the result is natural English. The translater may have wished to give it an 'oriental' flavour'
Speaking as a native Chinese, the English translation has no oriental flavour, so I guessed it is English style, but it isn't.
 
The sentence below is different but its construction is similar, perhaps it can remain in this thread.
"The person died who had won the badminton title last year."
Should "died" be put after "year"?
Yes. A past simple 'died' would be more natural.
 
Sorry, more natural than what?
Sorry. My slip. I meant to write "A past simple 'won' would be more natural (than a past perfect 'had won'".
 
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