(With) a knife in (his) hand, he rushed into the room.

[diamondcutter]

1. Knife in hand, he rushed into the room.
2. With knife in hand, he rushed into the room.
3. With a knife in hand, he rushed into the room.
4. With a knife in his hand, he rushed into the room.

Source: https://www.cpsenglish.com/question/6088

The author says all these four sentences are correct and have the same meaning. What do you say?

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd use 1 or 4. 2 and 3 aren't wrong but I'm not very keen on them.

Remember to put a space after every full stop, including the one after the numbers in a numbered list. I have edited post 1 and added the relevant space for you this time.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, they're all grammatical. Whether they have the same meaning depends on exactly what you mean by 'the same meaning'. My natural proclivity would be to examine the differences between them. Don't you think that would be more useful?

Sometimes teachers say that two things have the same meaning just to make a pedagogical point.

 

[tzfujimino]

Is "knife in hand" a fixed phrase/expression?

 

[emsr2d2]

"Knife in hand", no. "Noun + in hand", yes.

Passport in hand, I approached the immigration officer nervously.
Basket of vegetables in hand, I joined the queue of people patiently waiting to pay.
Pen in hand, I hovered over the contract, unsure of whether to sign or not.

"Noun + in hand" is another way of saying "Carrying a/the + noun".

 

[tzfujimino]

I'd like to ask you three more questions:

1. Is it possible to put some kind of determiner before the noun? (I don't think so.)
A/The/That pen in hand, I hovered over the contract, unsure of ...

2. Is it possible to use plural forms in that phrase? (I don't think so.)
Books in hand, he entered the classroom full of students. (I made this sentence.)

3. Is it OK to use the construction (="singular countable noun + in hand") in everyday conversation/speech? (I'm not sure.)

 

[jutfrank]

1. It isn't ungrammatical to do so but the whole point is that these phrases don't include determiners.

2. It's typical that these phrases use a singular noun, but if you want to use a plural noun, it isn't wrong.

3. These phrases are most typically used in writing. See the examples in post #5.

 

[Tdol]

I wouldn't touch 2 or 3.