[Grammar] An icy breeze chills my cheeks

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Edwalker

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Hello.

I just wrote this sentence:

An icy breeze chills my cheeks as the sun peeks over the horizon, throwing into silhouette the balloons which fill the sky.

Is this sentence correct? Does it convey that the silhouettes are caused by the sun (and not by the breeze)?

Is there a rule to decide which noun the verb "throwing" will be associated with?


Thank you.
 

jutfrank

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Yes, it's correct. Yes, it's clear that the balloons are silhouetted by the sun.

In my opinion, the general rule you ask about is one of coherence. We interpret whatever makes most sense.
 

Tdol

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How about my face as it won't stop chilling at your cheeks?
 

Edwalker

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Thank you jutfrank.
 

Edwalker

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Hi Tdol. I like your suggestion. I wrote "cheeks" because I hoped that the alliteration of "ch" would suggest the harshness of the cold weather. I'm practicing for an English Language GCSE, and I think they like that sort of thing.
 

Tdol

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Freezes/frosts my face?
 

Tarheel

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An icy breeze chills my cheeks.

I would write that sort of thing if I was going for humor. (British: humour.)

I would keep the "icy breeze" part and say, perhaps:

An icy breeze sends a chill down my spine.

Or something like that.
 

Tarheel

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I finally looked at the OP, and I think you should have dressed more warmly before going outside to watch the balloons.

I think you want to say that when you first went outside it was dark, and when the sun came up you could see the balloons better.
 

Tdol

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Tarheel

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Not the weather for shorts?

Are you talking about "chills my cheeks"? No, I was talking about the alliteration in that case, but that's a good point.
:)
 

Tdol

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I missed the alliteration point.
 
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