Garry ran his cloth over the half-wet chair, trying to dry it so he could sit on it.

[alpacinou]

Imagine you want to sit on a chair that's slightly wet and you wipe it with your cloth. How can that be expressed? Are these correct?

1. Garry ran his cloth over the half-wet chair, trying to dry it so he could sit on it.
2. Garry ran his cloth over the chair, trying to wipe the moisture off it, and took a seat.

 

[Barque]

"Gary wiped the chair so that he could sit on it."
"Gary wiped the chair dry and sat down".

Keep it simple. "Half-wet" and "trying to dry" are completely unnecessary.

 

[alpacinou]

I need to mention the moisture and water.

Is number two correct?

 

[Barque]

Why do you "need" to mention it? Do you mean you WANT to mention it?

See the second option I just added which covers it.

Alternatively:
"Gary wiped the water/moisture off the chair and sat down."

 

[emsr2d2]

@alpacinou Whilst "Gary" is the more common spelling, there was nothing wrong with "Garry" in your original. I have a friend who spells it that way.

 

[alpacinou]

@alpacinou Whilst "Gary" is the more common spelling, there was nothing wrong with "Garry" in your original. I have a friend who spells it that way.

Thank you! Are the two sentences in post 1 okay?

 

[Barque]

@alpacinou Whilst "Gary" is the more common spelling, there was nothing wrong with "Garry" in your original. I have a friend who spells it that way.

Ah. I didn't notice that, though I agree of course. I assumed it was the usual Gary.

 

[emsr2d2]

As you can see from the fact that I added a "Like" to Barque's response, I didn't find either of your original sentences natural.

 

[Barque]

Thank you! Are the two sentences in post 1 okay?

This post of yours probably contains the most natural sentences I've seen from you so far, probably because you didn't overthink them.

 

[alpacinou]

As you can see from the fact that I added a "Like" to Barque's response, I didn't find either of your original sentences natural.

How would you express the idea?

 

[Barque]

I'm not emsr2d2 but I'd express it in one of the three ways I suggested. I can think of a few more if you're interested.

 

[emsr2d2]

How would you express the idea?

Both of Barque's suggestions were great. That's why I hit "Like". If I'd had any other suggestions, I would have included them in post #5.

 

[tedmc]

Why say "ran his cloth over the chair to wipe mosture off it" when you can say "wipe the chair dry"?

 

[Rover_KE]

I’d only mention the moisture/dampness on the chair if its source (blood/tears/amniotic fluid/Remy Martin etc) had any relevance to the narrative.

 

[Tarheel]

@alpacinou
@Barque 's suggestions are perfectly good.