Question

2 March

Korean

English (US)
Guarani

Question about English (US)

A. She obeyed his instructions to the letter.
B. To the letter, she obeyed his instructions.

Regardless of the placement of "to the letter, are both sentences A and B correct English?

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Answers

norapears17

2 March

English (US)

yes, both are correct

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cherrypietree

2 March

English (US)

@GlitterK I don't think sentence B is correct. It sounds very unnatural and it is unclear.

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1 like

rapture18

2 March

Korean

Hmm.. I'm confused as to why answers are not in agreement.

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cherrypietree

2 March

English (US)

@GlitterK I'm not sure either. Sorry for any confusion! The other person may be correct, but in my opinion, sentence B may be correct but it sounds unnatural.

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1 like

rapture18

2 March

Korean

@cherrypietree

Maybe can sentence B sound natural with the same meaning as sentence A?

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cherrypietree

2 March

English (US)

I think it is best to start a sentence with the subject: in this case, "she"

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rapture18

2 March

Korean

@cherrypietree

C. She was a true patriot to the last.
D. To the last, she was a true patriot.

I suppose you would say even sentence D is incorrect?

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cherrypietree

2 March

English (US)

@GlitterK Sentence D sounds poetic, so you would never use it in normal conversation, which is why it sounds unnatural. In my opinion, sentence C is better in all situations, but I might be wrong.

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2 likes

norapears17

2 March

English (US)

I think if you were speaking, sentence B would sound unnatural. But grammatically they're both correct options.

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2 likes

rapture18

2 March

Korean

Thank you very much!

By the way, do C and D mean the same thing regardless of the placement of "to the last"? and do A and B mean the same ?

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norapears17

2 March

English (US)

@GlitterK I believe they mean the same thing regardless of the placement. A and C might just be more natural ways to say it, whereas B and D are more poetic (like @cherrypietree said). But technically they mean the same thing.

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rapture18

2 March

Korean

@norapears17 Thank you very much

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1 like

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A. She obeyed his instructions to the letter.B. To the letter, she obeyed his instructions.Regardless of the placement of "to the letter, are both sentences A and B correct English? See a translation

yes, both are correct

@GlitterK I don't think sentence B is correct. It sounds very unnatural and it is unclear.

@GlitterK I'm not sure either. Sorry for any confusion! The other person may be correct, but in my opinion, sentence B may be correct but it sounds unnatural.

I think it is best to start a sentence with the subject: in this case, "she"

@GlitterK Sentence D sounds poetic, so you would never use it in normal conversation, which is why it sounds unnatural. In my opinion, sentence C is better in all situations, but I might be wrong.

I think if you were speaking, sentence B would sound unnatural. But grammatically they're both correct options.

@GlitterK I believe they mean the same thing regardless of the placement. A and C might just be more natural ways to say it, whereas B and D are more poetic (like @cherrypietree said). But technically they mean the same thing.

A. She obeyed his instructions to the letter.
B. To the letter, she obeyed his instructions.

Regardless of the placement of "to the letter, are both sentences A and B correct English?

See a translation