0

a. He is such a boy as everyone likes him.

b. He is such a boy that everyone likes him.

c. He is such a boy as liked by everyone.

d. He is such a boy that is liked by everyone.

Which sentence is correct and why? What is the actual constitution of the this sentence? It is taught here that when one clause has the word 'such' the other clause will take the word 'as' to correlate with the first clause. The given answer says that the option (B) would be correct if an adjective is added before the noun that constitutes like this, He is such a friendly boy that everyone likes him. The word 'such' also functions as an adjective. So, why is it necessary to use 'such' as an adverb by adding another adjective with the noun 'boy'? Furthermore, how to find out wether 'as' is being used as a conjunction or as a relative pronoun.

Improve this question
1
  • This seems to be a very dated book. That book is very out of date. Is it "Wren and Martin"?
    – James K
    Commented Apr 4 at 6:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Neither sentence is idiomatic English.

The second one would work if it included an adjective describing the boy.

He is such a friendly boy that everyone likes him. (They like him as a result of the fact that he is so friendly.)

The first one doesn't make sense in modern English. You could express the same idea like this:

He is the sort of boy that everyone likes.

Improve this answer
4
  • I suspect OP is only thinking of the meaning He is the sort of boy that everyone likes. Which I think can't be idiomatically expressed using such without swapping the roles of subject and object: Everybody likes boys such as him. But even then, I'd say it's much better to steer clear of such and go for Everybody likes boys like him. Those two different uses of like in a single sentence would rarely even be noticed by native Anglophones, and that's the kind of thing learners need to get used to in English.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 2 at 17:43
  • 1
    I think the OP has got hold of some archaic usages. Imagine "The sky was cold and gray, such a sky as dulls the spirits" or "He was such a man as wins few friends." But the first example wouldn't work as given even in that usage (you'd have to delete the redundant pronoun). And...
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Apr 2 at 18:03
  • ... And the second example works only if "such an X" picks an "X" that is an archetype, and means "he so typified the qualities of an X," like "he was such a jock that he wore a track suit to the prom."
    – Andy Bonner
    Commented Apr 2 at 18:10
  • @AndyBonner: examples like this have been steadily eclipsing examples such as this over the past century. Such is life.
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Apr 2 at 20:31

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .