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The children surrounded the new writer, their eyes and mouths wide open

Why this sentece is correct?

As far as I know "open" has an adjective phrase functioning. So, shouldn't we write something like

..., their eyes and mouths were wide open.

or

..., with their wide open eyes and mouths.

Must not an adjective follow by a subject?

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  • Putting adjectives after nouns is sometimes done for literary effect. It’s grammatically valid, just uncommon.
    – StephenS
    Nov 5, 2020 at 20:26
  • O.K. Let's change the sequence "The children surrounded the new writer, their wide open eyes and mouths". Isn't there a lack "with" there??
    – xyz
    Nov 5, 2020 at 20:33

1 Answer 1

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This is called an absolute construction: it is common in literary writing, but not often used in speech.

The adjective follows the noun because it is predicative, not attributive. Their eyes and mouths wide open is similar in construction and meaning to and their eyes and mouths were wide open.

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  • To complete the picture, I would add that it's the verbless analogue of the supplement "being wide open". The supplement must be a non-finite clause.
    – BillJ
    Nov 6, 2020 at 8:04

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