[Grammar] A construction/sentence with should

[Balkenende]

At least, I think 'should' is the key here, dear teachers.

I'm writing a story involving a parachute jump from a plane. Two friends are taking a third, who has never done this before, and they want to frighten hem a little.
It contains the following sentence:

'By then the height should be so dizzying, the jump inspire fright.'

And the question is: do I need a verb between 'jump' and 'inspire', and what would that be?
I seem to remember a rule with 'should', that applies here, but I can't for the life of me remember.

Thanks so much,

Joost

 

[Raymott]

At least, I think 'should' is the key here, dear teachers.

I'm writing a story involving a parachute jump from a plane. Two friends are taking a third, who has never done this before, and they want to frighten hem a little.
It contains the following sentence:

'By then the height should be so dizzying, the jump inspires fright.' OR
'By then the height should be so dizzying that the jump inspires fright.'

And the question is: do I need a verb between 'jump' and 'inspire', and what would that be?
I seem to remember a rule with 'should', that applies here, but I can't for the life of me remember.

Thanks so much,

Joost

I've corrected the sentence. "The jump" is singular.
No, the 'should' belongs in the first half, where it is. You don't need two.
You could put it there if it wasn't in the first half: "By then, the height will be so dizzying that the jump should inspire fright."

 

[Balkenende]

Thanks very much, Raymott.

Does it make any difference if the whole story is told in the past tense?
Would I then need 'would'?


Joost

 

[Raymott]

Thanks very much, Raymott.

Does it make any difference if the whole story is told in the past tense?
Would I then need 'would'?


Joost

It depends on what exactly you want to say. I assume this isn't dialogue - if it were, it would not matter what tense the story was in; the sentence would be the same.
"We decided to take it up to 5,000m. At that height, we were sure that the jump would inspire fright."
"We decided to take it up to a height so dizzying that the jump would surely inspire fright."
Yes, use "would".

 

[Balkenende]

Okay, thank you.

And just to get things absolutely clear: not using ány verb is just wrong?
As you say, using 'should' twice isn't necessary, but it you leave out the verb, isn't it there implicitly?

 

[Raymott]

Okay, thank you.

And just to get things absolutely clear: not using ány verb is just wrong?
Not using any verb is, of course, wrong. Do you mean "not using a modal verb after 'jump'"? No, that isn't wrong, as I've said in my first reply.
'By then the height should be so dizzying, the jump inspires fright.'

As you say, using 'should' twice isn't necessary, but it you leave out the verb, isn't it there implicitly?
I'll assume you mean the modal verb.

No, it's there explicitly in the first half of the sentence.
Compare: "You should be old enough to know better." This is saying "You should know better", not "You should be old enough".
We don't say, "You should be old enough that you should know better." Similarly, you don't say, "It should be high enough that it should frighten him."

The 'should' applies to 'be', and the complement of 'be' is "so dizzying that the jump inspires fright". If you argue that "should be" applies only to "dizzying", not to "inspiring fright", you're missing the point that "that the jump inspires fright" is also qualifying "dizzying", and is not independent of the "should".

 

[Balkenende]

I think you've spotted the fault in my reasoning, thank you!