Nantes
Member
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2011
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- Portuguese
- Home Country
- Brazil
- Current Location
- Brazil
Hi,
I am a few days away from being 20 years old and have been learning English since I was 8, and most of my English was self-taught (I picked up the language very fast from the games, the internet, movies and whichever other stimulus). I consider myself as having native-level skills (if not higher), as well as barely having any Brazilian accent. But enough bragging, on to the question!
I was discussing with my parents how multiple adjectives can be confusing. For instance, in "burnt coconut pie", is it the coconut pie that's burnt, or is a well-cooked pie made from burnt coconut? How would one go about eliminating this ambiguity? Linking words together perhaps (burnt-coconut pie)?
Another example would be the Owl City song "Shy Violet". The chorus is:
Light up the sky,
Shy violet angel eyes
How does one know if the eyes are violet, or the angel is violet, or the eyes are shy, or the violet is shy?
Normally I would read the second line in reverse, beginning with the noun and backtracking. So I would first read "angel eyes", then violet to characterize the color of "angel eyes", then shy to characterize the mood of "angel eyes". However, since the song's title is "Shy violet", I'm not exactly sure.
Thanks!
I am a few days away from being 20 years old and have been learning English since I was 8, and most of my English was self-taught (I picked up the language very fast from the games, the internet, movies and whichever other stimulus). I consider myself as having native-level skills (if not higher), as well as barely having any Brazilian accent. But enough bragging, on to the question!
I was discussing with my parents how multiple adjectives can be confusing. For instance, in "burnt coconut pie", is it the coconut pie that's burnt, or is a well-cooked pie made from burnt coconut? How would one go about eliminating this ambiguity? Linking words together perhaps (burnt-coconut pie)?
Another example would be the Owl City song "Shy Violet". The chorus is:
Light up the sky,
Shy violet angel eyes
How does one know if the eyes are violet, or the angel is violet, or the eyes are shy, or the violet is shy?
Normally I would read the second line in reverse, beginning with the noun and backtracking. So I would first read "angel eyes", then violet to characterize the color of "angel eyes", then shy to characterize the mood of "angel eyes". However, since the song's title is "Shy violet", I'm not exactly sure.
Thanks!
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