[Grammar] daily showers?

[Heidi]

Dear friends,

Would you please tell me what 'daily showers' means in the following sentence?

'This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year in several daily showers.'

Does it mean that there are several periods of time a year and in each period, it will rain continuously for many days'?

 

[SirGod]

*Not a teacher

A shower (weather) means a brief and usually light fall of rain, hail, sleet, or snow. So it looks like there rains (showers) a couple of times per day.

 

[Heidi]

I got it, SirGod. Thank you!

 

[Raymott]

Dear friends,

Would you please tell me what 'daily showers' means in the following sentence?

'This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year in several daily showers.'

Does it mean that there are several periods of time a year and in each period, it will rain continuously for many days'?

"in several daily showers" is not a good phrase for this sentence.
The meaning is not clear.

 

[Heidi]

"in several daily showers" is not a good phrase for this sentence.
The meaning is not clear.

Would you please rewrite that sentence to make it clearer?

Actually, I'm not sure what the meaning of the word 'in' is here. Can I have your comments, please?

Thank you!

 

[SoothingDave]

"in several daily showers" is not a good phrase for this sentence.
The meaning is not clear.

It's clear to me. It rains a couple times each day.

 

[Raymott]

Would you please rewrite that sentence to make it clearer?

Actually, I'm not sure what the meaning of the word 'in' is here. Can I have your comments, please?

Thank you!

I'd write "in several showers daily" if Dave's interpretation is correct. It could also mean in "several-daily showers", ie. in showers that happen every few days.
The same ambiguity occurs in sentences like "They got the work done in two weekly meetings" where "two weekly" would be clearer as "two-weekly" (fortnightly) or "meetings twice a week". This could also mean a total of two meetings, held a week apart. The only reason that it can't mean "several daily showers" in the original is that you can't get 200 inches out of a few daily showers.

"in" is required because a preposition is needed. "The rainfall came in daily showers." = "The rainfall came in the form of daily showers."

 

[Tdol]

several showers every day might be a tidier way of saying it.

 

[Bide]

'This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year in several daily showers.'
This natural wonderland receives, in several daily showers, an average of 200 inches of rain a year .
This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year. Easy to understand.
This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year, because it rains several times every day.

The adverbial of manner: 'in several daily showers' is not ambiguous to me. I couldn't interpret it as 'showers which last for several days' but rather as the indefinite version of 'twice daily showers' or 'thrice daily showers'
'daily'( = every day) is an adjective here and 'several' an indefinite quantifier.

 

[SoothingDave]

The only reason that it can't mean "several daily showers" in the original is that you can't get 200 inches out of a few daily showers.

I don't follow. Are you saying if it rains a couple of times every day that it is impossible to get 200 inches of rain in a year?

Let's say it rains every day. Then they would have "daily showers."

Let's further say that it rains several times every day. That sounds like "several daily showers."

I've never heard "several daily" to men "every couple of days."

 

[Raymott]

I've never heard "several daily" to men "every couple of days."

I've never heard "several daily" at all. Perhaps, as I say, because the meaning would be unclear,
But maybe it's common where you come from and the mean is understood. If it's clear to you, then I guess that's what it means in your dialect. I can't argue with that.

 

[Raymott]

The only reason that it can't mean "several daily showers" in the original is that you can't get 200 inches out of a few daily showers.

What I meant was you can't get 200 inches out of several (say three of four) daily showers.

 

[Heidi]

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for all your opinions. Actually I didn't expect to have caused so much discuession.

After thinking thoroughly about your explanations, I think I can understand the more straightforward version of 'in several showers every day' or 'in several showers daily'. So I was thinking if it's also fine to say 'in several showers a day(/each day), this natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year'??? I would love to receive your suggestions. Thank you!

For complete reference, following is the original text, El Yunque forest. It's excerpted from Studio Classroom magazine, March 2011, by Ruth Devlin.

All feel a sense of awe as they gaze out over the forest that spreads like a thick green carpet over the hills and mountains. Mist throuds the forest canopy. Most likely, it has just rained or is about to rain. This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year in several daily showers. That means around 100 billion gallons of water fall on the 28,000-acre area each year. All that moisture makes the lush landscape beautiful to behold.

 

[Heidi]

My post #13 needs your a little help.:lol: Thank you!

 

[Tdol]

in several showers a day(/each day), this natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year

From several would work better there for me.

 

[Heidi]

From several would work better there for me.

Is it fine here to interpret the word 'from' as referring to the cause for that amount of rain each year?:?:

(This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year from several showers each day.)

 

[freezeframe]

Is it fine here to interpret the word 'from' as referring to the cause for that amount of rain each year?:?:

(This natural wonderland receives an average of 200 inches of rain a year from several showers each day.)

Yes.

 

[Heidi]

Thank you, freezeframe and Tdol.