Heavily?

Could you please rephrase the adverb 'heavily' in this sentence?

"A throng of bearded men, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak."
Is it possible to say timbered of oak too?

sondra said:

Could you please rephrase the adverb 'heavily' in this sentence?

"A throng of bearded men, was assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak."
Is it possible to say timbered of oak too?

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I can't see how it is possible for a door to be "heavily timbered".

I don't understand it either. It's from "The Scarlet Letter."
So it's impossible to rephrase it, right?

sondra said:

I don't understand it either. It's from "The Scarlet Letter."
So it's impossible to rephrase it, right?

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Not impossible, but you can't do it word for word.

A not very exciting possibility is: ... the door of which was made of heavy/massive oak.

fivejedjon said:

Not impossible, but you can't do it word for word.

A not very exciting possibility is: ... the door of which was made of heavy/massive oak.

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Yes, that is how I always interpreted it. From memory, you will see this type of phrase turn up in modern paperback fantasy and older works of literature, as in this case.

"A heavy/thick/strong oak door."

Munch said:

you will see this type of phrase turns in modern paperback fantasy and older works of literature, as in this case.

"A heavy/thick/strong oak door."

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turns up?

fivejedjon said:

turns up?

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Yes, thanks! I have to stop trying to post in the breaks between lessons.

Hello,

Is it also possible to say :
The door of which was massively/thickly/strongly timbered with oak?
I deciced perhaps it's possible to use the adjectives suggested by you as adverbs.

And in this version: a heavy/thick/strong oak door. I am not sure but I think adjectives refer to the door and not to the quality of the oak.
But I have to refer to the oak and say that it was a strong/thick oak.
Should I use the original sentence and this sentence suggested by you:'The door of which was made of heavy/massive oak' to convey this idea?
I have to ask this because when I see a noun in a sentence and an adjective I see that the adjective refers to the noun but when there is an adverb (heavily timbered):-?? It refers to...?

sondra said:

Hello,

Is it also possible to say :
The door of which was massively/thickly/strongly timbered with oak?
I deciced perhaps it's possible to use the adjectives suggested by you as adverbs. Why are you blushing? I think your suggestion is fine.

t

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fjj

I notice that your Membership Type is registered as 'other'. Don't think that teachers have the only answers, or that we are always right. If you look through the various threads on this forum, you will see that we often disagree on the finer points. This is why the administrators made the wise decision to allow anybody, not just teachers, to answer questions if they had the knowledge to do so.