Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Description: How to apply an adjective to a list of nouns without seeming redundant?

+0
−0

For example, in the case of this sentence:

I drove past the empty stables and servant's quarters, and after another quarter mile I entered a very large circular driveway.

Is it implied that both entities, the stables and the servant's quarters are empty? Or do I have empty stables and servant's quarters that may or may not be occupied?

How do I assert that both are empty without sounding redundant? I don't want to do this:

I drove past the empty stables and the empty servant's quarters, and after another quarter mile I entered a very large circular driveway.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/23378. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+1
−0

Simply choose another adjective:

I drove past the empty stables and the deserted servant's quarters, and after another quarter mile I entered a very large circular driveway.

Or break up the sentence so that you can group them together.

Both the stables and the servant's quaters were empty as I drove by. After another quarter mile I entered a very large circular driveway.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »