Squall_anh Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 Please explain the grammar in this sentence to me Napoleon III eventually landed in England__________ a) Not only as a dethroned exile b)but only as a dethroned exile c)but a dethroned exile d)but being only a dethroned exile The correct answer is C.But in my knowledge,i think that only a is absolute wrong,the rest sound right.Please explain it to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hippo Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 Hi, Let me give a try. "But" as a coordinating conjunction have to be used in the independent clause(thus there must be a subject and a predicate verb). B and D doesn't provide an independent clause. Consider C. In this position "but" can be used as an adverb. For example in the following sentence: "He is but a child" "But" means "only" Well, I'm not sure how to explain grammatically C. I think that following reduction is in effect. The full sentence looks like: "Napoleon III eventually landed in England [being] but a dethroned exile" I repeat again that i'm not sure if we can get rid of the participle "being" but I think we can. Frankly speaking, initially I chose B ;-). Looking forward to other opinions. Best regards, Hippo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsengoren Posted August 17, 2003 Share Posted August 17, 2003 I say it is B. It can't be A. "not only" asks for "but also" It can't be C either. Because: When "but" is followed by a noun or pronoun it means "except" There is no one here but me. This car has been nothing but trouble. We don't have this meaning here. OK, Hippo is right. Sometimes it means "only" when it is used before nouns as in: He is but a child. But still, even if we used it in this meaning, we would need the determiner "as" Napoleon III eventually landed in England, but as a dethroned exile. In option B,"but" means "however" Napoleon III eventually landed in England, but only as a dethroned exile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanai Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Originally posted by hsengoren I say it is B. It can't be A. "not only" asks for "but also" It can't be C either. Because: When "but" is followed by a noun or pronoun it means "except" There is no one here but me. This car has been nothing but trouble. We don't have this meaning here. OK, Hippo is right. Sometimes it means "only" when it is used before nouns as in: He is but a child. But still, even if we used it in this meaning, we would need the determiner "as" Napoleon III eventually landed in England, but as a dethroned exile. In option B,"but" means "however" Napoleon III eventually landed in England, but only as a dethroned exile. I also think B is correct. I do not choose C because if "but" means "except" in structure "A but B", A and B are often the same class, type, or part of speech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erin Posted August 18, 2003 Share Posted August 18, 2003 Yes, B is the only possible answer for all the reasons you guys have stated, but I should say that the sentence sounds terribly stilted and artificial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squall_anh Posted August 18, 2003 Author Share Posted August 18, 2003 But tell me why D is an incorrect answer.I see it seems right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_mcvay1966 Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_mcvay1966 Posted August 21, 2003 Share Posted August 21, 2003 B is the only possible answer that completes the sentence. The others leave one with an incomplete sentence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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