vocabulary and grammar

[jiang]

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

A post-Christmas sale in a department store should have been enough to convince anybody that I had no ambitions to be a landscape painter, but, no, it was taken, told and retold as evidence of youthful spirits in someone who would no doubt settle later on, and I, social as I was, laughed with the others and gave credence to the myth.

My question concerns ' social as I was'.

As a grammatical rule, 'as' can introduce a recession clause. The pattern is adj./adv./v.+as+subject etc.

But if it a recession clause it should be something like 'social as I was I didn't....'. Therefore I think it introduces a clause of reason. That is 'because I was social I laughed.....'. It indicates 'though I didn't like it'.
And the sentence is an inverted sentence. Am I right?

2. I am sorry to bother you with a quesion that I asked before. The sentence is:

In sports, _______ contrast, doing things with the left hand or foot, is often an advantage.
a. In b.By
The key is 'a'.

My question at that time is whether 'b' is correct. And when I asked the question I only knew two phrases. One is 'by contrast'. The other is 'in contrast with/to'. Now I found in the Longman dictionary of contemporary English the following definition:
2. in contrast/by contrast used when you are comparing objects or situations and saying that they are completely different from each other.
Does it mean both 'a' and 'b' are correct in this case? But when we use the phrase we can only say 'in contrast with/to'. Am I right?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[MikeNewYork]

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

A post-Christmas sale in a department store should have been enough to convince anybody that I had no ambitions to be a landscape painter, but, no, it was taken, told and retold as evidence of youthful spirits in someone who would no doubt settle later on, and I, social as I was, laughed with the others and gave credence to the myth.

My question concerns ' social as I was'.

As a grammatical rule, 'as' can introduce a recession clause. The pattern is adj./adv./v.+as+subject etc.

But if it a recession clause it should be something like 'social as I was I didn't....'. Therefore I think it introduces a clause of reason. That is 'because I was social I laughed.....'. It indicates 'though I didn't like it'.
And the sentence is an inverted sentence. Am I right?

I am not familiar with the term "recession clause" outside of legal contracts. The phrase "social as I was" is parenthetical in that sentence. It is a comment from the speaker about himself. I agree with you that it is meant to be an explanation of his behavior. One uses "as I" if the adjective explains the behavior. If the behaviour were in contrast to the adjective, we would use "though I was". Both phrases use the inverted form.

2. I am sorry to bother you with a quesion that I asked before. The sentence is:

In sports, _______ contrast, doing things with the left hand or foot, is often an advantage.
a. In b.By
The key is 'a'.

My question at that time is whether 'b' is correct. And when I asked the question I only knew two phrases. One is 'by contrast'. The other is 'in contrast with/to'. Now I found in the Longman dictionary of contemporary English the following definition:
2. in contrast/by contrast used when you are comparing objects or situations and saying that they are completely different from each other.
Does it mean both 'a' and 'b' are correct in this case? But when we use the phrase we can only say 'in contrast with/to'. Am I right?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I think that both could be used. I originally stated that I did not prefer the "in" repetition occurring with "in sports in contrast". We would only use "in contrast with/to" if the contrasted thing was mentioned. In this case, that wouldn't work. :wink:

 

[jiang]

I am sorry I made a mistake. I consulted my grammar book the word should be 'concession'.

Jiang

Dear teachers,

I have two questions to ask.

1. Please read the following sentence:

A post-Christmas sale in a department store should have been enough to convince anybody that I had no ambitions to be a landscape painter, but, no, it was taken, told and retold as evidence of youthful spirits in someone who would no doubt settle later on, and I, social as I was, laughed with the others and gave credence to the myth.

My question concerns ' social as I was'.

As a grammatical rule, 'as' can introduce a recession clause. The pattern is adj./adv./v.+as+subject etc.

But if it a recession clause it should be something like 'social as I was I didn't....'. Therefore I think it introduces a clause of reason. That is 'because I was social I laughed.....'. It indicates 'though I didn't like it'.
And the sentence is an inverted sentence. Am I right?

2. I am sorry to bother you with a quesion that I asked before. The sentence is:

In sports, _______ contrast, doing things with the left hand or foot, is often an advantage.
a. In b.By
The key is 'a'.

My question at that time is whether 'b' is correct. And when I asked the question I only knew two phrases. One is 'by contrast'. The other is 'in contrast with/to'. Now I found in the Longman dictionary of contemporary English the following definition:
2. in contrast/by contrast used when you are comparing objects or situations and saying that they are completely different from each other.
Does it mean both 'a' and 'b' are correct in this case? But when we use the phrase we can only say 'in contrast with/to'. Am I right?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

 

[MikeNewYork]

I am sorry I made a mistake. I consulted my grammar book the word should be 'concession'.

Ah! That makes more sense. :wink: