Adjectives

[Sallytrack]

In the following sentence, is "column" modifying "soldiers"?

The long, narrow column of soldiers marched through the pass.


Thanks!

Sally

 

[tzfujimino]

Hello, Sallytrack.:-D
I don't think I can agree with you.

In my opinion, in your sentence,

"The long, narrow column [of soldiers] marched through the pass."

the prepositional phrase "of soldiers" in those brackets postmodifies the noun "column", describing what kind of "column" it is.
Hence, it has an adjectival function. I don't think "column" is modifying "soldiers".

 

[Rover_KE]

Sally, please note that a better title would have been column of soldiers.

Extract from the Posting Guidelines:

'Thread titles should include all or part of the word/phrase being discussed.'

 

[Raymott]

I don't think I can agree with you.

I'm sure this was a small oversight, but the OP didn't make any assertion that one could agree or disagree with.
As a note for students, we generally don't say that we agree or disagree with questions.

 

[tzfujimino]

Yes, that was a weird response.
I somehow changed the original question into "I think... Don't you think so?" in my brain.
Thank you for pointing that out. I'll be more careful next time.

 

[Sallytrack]

Oh, okay! Thank you for helping me get help!

 

[Sallytrack]

Well, we straightened out whether someone replying to a thread should agree or disagree, and I was schooled about how to title a thread, but does anyone know, for sure, if "column" is modifying soldiers? I really want to understand!

 

[5jj]

Is is not. As tzfujimino said in post #2,:

The prepositional phrase "of soldiers" in those brackets postmodifies the noun "column", describing what kind of "column" it is.
Hence, it has an adjectival function. I don't think "column" is modifying "soldiers".

 

[Sallytrack]

What does adjectival function mean?

 

[5jj]

You say here that you are an English teacher. I am surprised that you do not know the meaning of these words.

 

[Sallytrack]

I do not know the meaning of the word. We did a lot of reading, but no grammar work. I am an English teacher with master's in reading. Scary, huh? I do want to be a better teacher.

 

[5jj]

A valuable aid for anybody who wants to know the meaning of a word is a dictionary. There are many here: http://onelook.com/browse.shtml

 

[tzfujimino]

What does adjectival function mean?

Hello, Sallytrack.:-D
I'm really sorry to have responded to you in the wrong way - I don't think I can agree with you.
I'm also an English teacher, though I'm not a native speaker. I hope I can enjoy learning the English language with you here in UsingEnglish.

The "of soldiers" part in your sentence is modifying "column" like an adjective. This is what I wanted to mean when I said "it (="of soldiers) has an adjectival function."
I'd like to apologize for any confusion caused to you.

 

[SoothingDave]

I'm beginning to suspect this person is pulling our leg.