A man in a black suit
Can I say "a man warmly in a black suit" (a man who warmly wears a black suit) or "a man in a black suit like gentlemen" (a man who wears a black suit like gentlemen)?
For your information, I made these sentences on my own.
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1What would "warmly"modify there? Nothing. So, it does not work. Also, we would not say a man wears a suit warmly. We do say: People dress warmly in winter. OR They greeted their guests warmly. You need to look these up before posting. I am downvoting this question.– LambieCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 1:20
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1An adverb has to modify a verb. 'A man dressed warmly in a thick sweater'.– Kate BuntingCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 10:13
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1 Answer
The first doesn't make sense ("warmly" doesn't work), but with other adverbs that would be possible.
a man partially in a black suit.
The second is fine but "gentleman" needs an article
a man in a black suit like a gentleman
There is some ambiguity there, it's unclear from the syntax if the man is like a gentleman or the suit is like a gentleman. Of course, it must be that the man is like a gentleman, for pragmatic reasons.
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I used "a man in a black suit like a gentleman" to describe a man wears a black suit like a gentleman wears a black suit. Like "I fly like a butterfly." "I wear a black suit like a gentleman."– user182348Commented Dec 29, 2023 at 23:55
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I want to know why "warmly" doesn't work.– user182348Commented Dec 30, 2023 at 0:05
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A man beautifully in a suit, a man warmly in a suit, a man nicely in a suit.– user182348Commented Dec 30, 2023 at 0:11
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1I think "warmly" needs a verb to modify. In fact all these examples would be better with a verb. So "a man dressed warmly in a black suit" or "a man wearing a black suit like a gentleman" are much better sentences– James KCommented Dec 30, 2023 at 0:11
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1@JamesK - Surely the implication is 'a black suit of the kind a gentleman would wear'? Commented Dec 30, 2023 at 10:10