Dear all,
I saw the following sentence in an essay I'm reading.
"How did her mother let her go out looking like that?"
In this sentence, does "looking like that" modify "her"?
I may be asking something strange, but the structure of the sentence isn't familiar to me.
Thank you.
OP
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) You want to know what "looking like that" modifies.
(2) I do, too.
(3) I have an answer to share with you. (Remember: if a
teacher gives you a different answer, the teacher's
answer is always to be accepted as the correct one.)
*****
(4) A great scholar, George O. Curme, analyzed this sentence:
He was drowned bathing in the river.
(a) What does "bathing in the river" modify?
(i) Yes, of course, "bathing in the river" refers to "He."
But Professor Curme says that -- technically speaking -- it
modifies the verb "was drowned." How is this possible?
(b) Professor Curme says that the sentence "He was
drowned bathing in the river" is really a shorter way to
say "He was drowned [
while he was] bathing in the river."
(i) I think all books and teachers agree that "while he was
bathing in the river" is an adverbial clause that modifies the
VERB. So that is why "bathing in the river" actually modifies
"was drowned" -- not "he."
*****
(5) Returning to your sentence, if we follow Professor Curme's
theory (or, at least, my interpretation of it!!!), your sentence is
really:
How did her mother let her go out [
while she was] looking like that?
(a) Yes, "looking like that" certainly refers to "her."
(b) But -- technically speaking -- it appears that "looking like that"
modifies "go out" (the verb).
