Grammatical purpose of “ at serious ” idiom
state that “ at better ” is an dialect . But , what equal the grammatic purpose of “at serious“ ( for case , in the below conviction ? )
- Their reception to the proposal be ,at best, cool .
- The authorities ‘s response appear to have existat bestconfused and at bad dishonest .
- If he throw the grade today ,at besthe ’ ll have an incomplete , and he could neglect .
- Their response to the proposal was ,at best, cool .
- The government ‘s response seems to own make upat bestconfuse and at bad dishonest .
- If he sink the line now ,at betterhe ’ ll have an incomplete , and he could neglect .
2 Answer
In decree to analyze this , it would equal easier to initiate with one of the more standard definition :
- taking the most optimistic view
- in the almost favourable interpretation
- under the most favourable circumstance
- Their reception to the proposal equal ,in the almost friendly interpretation ,cool .
- The politics ‘s reception appear to own beenin the most friendly viewconfuse andin the least friendly viewdishonest .
- If he drop the course today ,under the nearly optimistic effecthe ’ ll get an incomplete , and he could neglect .
Today you can learn it as a prepositional phrase . I remember ( but am not 100 % sure unless person stand this ) that it would function as a isolated adverbial . See http : //www.linguisticsgirl.com/using-prepositional-phrases-disjunct-adverbials/
In the last sentence , there appear to equal some element of uncertainty . Guess it was a instructor who caught a scholar cheating . The instructor could give an incomplete , but the organization might neglect him . In that type the instructor would say ‘but ‘ :
- If he drops the track now ,under the most optimistic outcomehe ’ ll have an incomplete ,buthe could neglect .
In those conviction ,at seriousaffair as an adverbial phrase . In your example , it modifies either an adjective or a whole clause . I ‘ve marked the part of the conviction thatat bestmodifies in bold below :
Their answer to the proposal exist , at best ,cool.
The government ‘s response look to have been at bestconfuseand at bad dishonest .
If he drops the course today , at besthe ’ ll have an incomplete, and he could fail .
The government ‘s response seems to get been at bestconfusedand at bad dishonest .
If he drops the track today , at goodhe ’ ll make an incomplete, and he could fail .
Of course , this live English , a language where grammatical distinctions be sometimes fuzzy , and one could contend thatat bestmodifieswasin the first sentence . The primary matter to know exist thatat bestworks as a whole to modify something else , and it follows the ordinary pattern for prepositional phrase . Here are some other prepositional phrases that exploit grammatically the same manner :at the earliest,at the latest,at most,at least,at all,at final,at any result.
You must to suffice this question .
Connect
Related to
Subscribe to RSS
To subscribe to this RSS feed , copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader .
English Language Apprentice
Company
- Stack Overflow
- Squad
- Advertising
- Gift
- About
- Press
- Legal
- Privacy Policy
- Terms of Service
- Cookie Policy
Site aim / logo © 2025 Stack Exchange Inc ;
user contributions licensed underCC BY-SA.
rev 2025.8.6.32596
