Is there any left? What is left?

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skelerobo

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In the question "Is there any milk left", I've had the question posed to me: " left is an adjective, so why is it following the noun milk?"

I've found in a dictionary that Left is acting as a verb, used with an object, but I still don't understand how the sentence is being put together. What is left, and how is it working?

Thanks for any help.
 

5jj

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'Left', in the sense of 'remaining' is the third form (past participle) of LEAVE. This usage is not part of any general pattern.

I have no milk left.
Have you got any wine left?
Everybody's been dismissed. Nobody is left/There is nobody left.
 

susiedq

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In your sample sentence, "left" is a shortened version of "left over" (the remains)

That was a good dinner. Is there any roast left?



That is not to be confused with the noun 'leftovers"

I like pizza and will eat the leftovers for days.
.
 

skelerobo

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Thank you for your replies and time!
 
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5jj

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In your sample sentence, "left" is a shortened version of "left over" (the remains).
. I don't agree.

Have you left [STRIKE]over[/STRIKE] any meat?...... Is there any meat left?


You can use 'left over' in the second of those, but there is no need.
 

hoangkha

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In the question "Is there any milk left", I've had the question posed to me: " left is an adjective, so why is it following the noun milk?"

I've found in a dictionary that Left is acting as a verb, used with an object, but I still don't understand how the sentence is being put together. What is left, and how is it working?

Thanks for any help.
[not a teacher]
IMO, it is reduction of a relative clause.
- Is there any milk (which is) left?
 

5jj

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IMO, it is reduction of a relative clause.
- Is there any milk (which is) left?
I see no reason to consider it this way. The full relative clause sounds unnatural.
 

TheParser

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[not a teacher]
IMO, it is reduction of a relative clause.
- Is there any milk (which is) left?


CAUTION: NOT A TEACHER


(1) What a great learner you are!

(2) Mr. Michael Swan's very reliable Practical English Grammar says:

(1) "Left," the past participle of "leave," sometimes means "remaining"

or "not used."

(2) The scholar then gives these two examples:

(a) What did you do with the money that was left.
(b) There are two eggs left, if you're hungry.

(3) Mr. Swan does not go into fine grammatical points. Beginning students are glad that he does not; advanced students, however, are disappointed, for they like a little more explanation.

(4) It is ONLY my opinion that Skelerobo's sentence is just a shorter way of saying:

Is there any milk [that is] left?

(a) "left" is a past participle that modifies "that."
(b) "that" modifies "milk."

(5) And it is ONLY my opinion that in the shorter sentence, we can simply say that

the past participle "left" modifies the noun "milk." That is, it is a so-called objective

complement.

(6) Congratulations also to Skelerobo for understanding that the past participle

"left" is being used as an adjective.
 

5jj

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What did you do with the money that was left.
Swan (2005.301) says that left is very common after there is and have got. His two examples are:

There is nothing left in the fridge.
I haven't got any money left.

I feel that there is no need to think of a reduced or omitted relative clause in these two sentences, especially as the insertion of a relative would make unnatural sentences. Swan does not suggest that they are reduced relative clauses. It is possible to use left in a relative clause, as we see in the example you quoted, above; however it seems to me that the simplest thing is to consider left after a noun, pronoun or determiner in a sentence with 'there is/are' or 'have (got)' as being slightly different from relative clauses.
 

hoangkha

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I have seen this sentence
- The little that was left was very good.
reduced
- The little left was very good.(IMO)
 

sumon.

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Hi Mr. 5jj
What did you do with the money that was left.
Is there any milk [that is] left?
So do you think these sentences are unnatural with relatives ?
Then what about this:
I don't know anything about the box that is locked (is it natural?)
Thank you.
 
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5jj

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Hi [STRIKE]Mr.[/STRIKE] 5jj
What did you do with the money that was left.?
Is there any milk [that is] left?
So do you think these sentences are unnatural with relatives ?
The first is fine.
The second is fine - without the 'that is'. It is unnatural with 'that is'.

My personal feelings are backed up by the number of citations in COCA. There are 31 for ' is/are there any [noun] left' and none for 'is/are there any [noun] that is/are left'.

Then what about this: I don't know anything about the box that is locked (is it natural?)
That's fine, but irrelevant. "I don't know anything about the box locked" is not natural.
'Left' is, as Swan says, a special case.
5
 

5jj

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I have seen this sentence
- The little that was left was very good.
reduced
- The little left was very good.(IMO)
Fine, but irrelevant to what I have been saying My point was that 'left' is a special case when used with 'there is/are' and 'have (got)'.
 
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