student asking question

Is this fragment same as "The amazing tinned anchovy is rich in omega threes, and a natural flavor enhancer"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes. The manner in which Gordon speaks in the video is grammatically correct, though slightly formal. Your restructure of the sentence is fine. It's the same meaning and the same sentence, your restructure does not change the sentence or impact the meaning. To explain the grammar point of view, this sentence is originally "The amazing tinned anchovy, which is rich in omega threes, is a natural flavor enhancer." But "subjective relative pronoun + be-verb" ("which is" in this sentence) can be skipped. So the speaker skipped that part and moved the adjective phrase "rich in omega threes" to the beginning of the sentence. That's why the sentence looks like this. This pattern is not very common in English. It is usually used in books and heard in documentaries, but rarely in conversation. If you see other sentences that start with an adjective, you can assume that the adjective is modifying the subject in the main sentence. Ex: Young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy. = I, who was young and inexperienced, thought the task easy. Ex: Famous throughout the world, the Michelin Guide has been ranking fine restaurants for more than a century. = The Michelin Guide, which was famous throughout the world, has been ranking fine restaurants for more than a century.

Popular Q&As

03/27

Complete the expression with a quiz!