He was walking in the dark forest, shining his flashlight forward/ahead.

[99bottles]

He was walking in the dark forest, shining his flashlight forward/ahead.

I don't have a particular sentence in mind. In such a sentence, which preposition is correct? And if they both are correct, what is the difference?

I made a thread about a similar topic HERE, but since it's not exactly the same, don't worry -- it won't be a waste of your time if you reply to this one.

 

[Tarheel]

I'm not sure why you would use either one. Naturally, you use a flashlight so you can see what you couldn't see otherwise. I might say:

I used my flashlight to see where I was going.

 

[99bottles]

I'm not sure why you would use either one. Naturally, you use a flashlight so you can see what you couldn't see otherwise. I might say:

I used my flashlight to see where I was going.

He was walking, shining his flashlight to see where he was going?

 

[Tarheel]

Yes.

 

[99bottles]

Yes.

Thanks, but in the meantime, I found some examples with the options you rejected. Can you have a look HERE and HERE and tell me whether they are wrong or, if they are correct, why they are using them in those cases?

 

[Tarheel]

I don't know. Those sites don't like my device.

Anyhow, I didn't say your versions are wrong. I said I wouldn't use them for the reasons given.

 

[Skrej]

He was walking in the dark forest, shining his flashlight forward/ahead.

Unless there's some other reason to shine the light elsewhere, it's not really necessary to state the direction of the flashlight.

He was walking, shining his flashlight to see where he was going?

Again, unless he's using the flashlight for some other purpose, it is redundant to bother stating what he's using it for.

He was walking through the forest with a flashlight.

 

[99bottles]

Unless there's some other reason to shine the light elsewhere, it's not really necessary to state the direction of the flashlight. Otherwise, we'd just assume he was shining it ahead of as normal.

He was walking through the forest with a flashlight.

He was walking through the forest, shining his flashlight?

 

[Tarheel]

He was walking, shining his flashlight to see where he was going?

Well, I gave that one a like and an upvote. So obviously I agree with you on that.

I suppose you could argue that it should be taken for granted that he was using his flashlight to see where he was going, but I don't agree. There are other things he might be using his flashlight for. For example, he might be missing something, and he doesn't want to wait till morning to look for it.

 

[99bottles]

I might open the same thread on WR, to get more opinions. I hope you don't get angry.

 

[5jj]

We will.

 

[5jj]

I see you've already done it. Thread closed.

 

[Tdol]

He walked forward, shining his flashlight backwards?

 

[Tarheel]

That would be weird.

 

[99bottles]

We will.

Sorry. I thought you had finished answering this thread -- that's why I tried to get more opinions elsewhere. You didn't have to send me away for two weeks. It was just a misunderstanding.

 

[probus]

Welcome back to the forum, 99bottles. May I suggest that you review the forum rules to avoid any more contretemps in future.

 

[emsr2d2]

You didn't have to send me away for two weeks. It was just a misunderstanding.

I hoped that, during your enforced break, you might have spent some time reflecting on your regular questioning of moderators' actions here. Clearly my hope was misplaced.