"She rubbed her still-wet hand from showering against her jeans."
Does this sound grammatically off
No. Sounds fine.
I personally would say: She rubbed her still-wet hand dry to keep from showering against her jeans
but this correction is not a grammatical fix, but one of clarity. That's not to say though that your original sentnce wasn't clear. It was. I understood what you were meaning 100% the first time I read it. But after analysing it further, I would add the extras as indicated by my sentence in case --just to be absolutely sure the meaning is being communicated perfectly.
:-)
I personally would say: She rubbed her still-wet hand dry to keep from showering against her jeans
but this correction is not a grammatical fix, but one of clarity. That's not to say though that your original sentnce wasn't clear. It was. I understood what you were meaning 100% the first time I read it. But after analysing it further, I would add the extras as indicated by my sentence in case --just to be absolutely sure the meaning is being communicated perfectly.
:-)
I find Please's sentence comprehensible but awkward; at the same time, I think Leasnam has misinterpreted it. I would break the sentence into two clauses:
Her hand was still wet from showering, so she rubbed it against her jeans.
Her hand was still wet from showering, so she rubbed it against her jeans.
Or, trying to stick as closely as possible to the structure of the original sentence:
"She rubbed her hand, still wet from showering, against her jeans."
"She rubbed her hand, still wet from showering, against her jeans."
<<I think Leasnam has misinterpreted it>>
Ahhh, I did indeed.
<<Her hand was still wet from showering, so she rubbed it against her jeans. >>
This makes sense to me now.
Ahhh, I did indeed.
<<Her hand was still wet from showering, so she rubbed it against her jeans. >>
This makes sense to me now.
I am not sure I can quite articulate my query. But let me give it a shot. I was only asking about the legitimacy of a structure similar to the following: "A still-wet hand from showering". I am trying as much as possible to avoid breaking it down into two sentences.
The sentence has a sexual connotation. To break the sentence down would destroy the juxtaposition of her hand, and rubbing it against her jeans. The wetness of her hand, offers an explanation of why she is rubbing it, but it is not necessarily a complete explanation.
Maybe Rapp's suggestion is better, because it keeps everything in one clauses.
Please, the phrase you're asking about is not wrong, but it is clumsily worded. I'm not sure I can explain why, but placing "from showering" after the hyphenated "still-wet" just sounds awkward.
Another way to re-word it would be something like:
"Fresh from the shower, she rubbed her still-wet hands against her jeans."
Like I said, I can't give you a precise explaination, but when using "still-wet" I can't think of a way of explaining why her hands are wet without putting that phrase in a separate subsidiary clause.
Another way to re-word it would be something like:
"Fresh from the shower, she rubbed her still-wet hands against her jeans."
Like I said, I can't give you a precise explaination, but when using "still-wet" I can't think of a way of explaining why her hands are wet without putting that phrase in a separate subsidiary clause.
>>Please, the phrase you're asking about is not wrong, but it is clumsily worded. I'm not sure I can explain why, but placing "from showering" after the hyphenated "still-wet" just sounds awkward.<<
That's all I wanted to know. Thanks.
That's all I wanted to know. Thanks.
"still-wet hands from showering" is awkward...because "from showering" has to do with "wet", and having "hands" between the two is a bit strange.
Instead of
"She rubbed her still-wet hand from showering against her jeans."
I would recommend:
(1) "She rubbed her hand - still wet from showering - against her jeans."
(2) "She rubbed her hand, which was still wet from showering, against her jeans."
(3) "She dried her hand, still wet from showering, by rubbing it against her jeans."
(3) is probably the biggest deviation from the original thought, but I think it's easier to follow because you get what she's doing and why. With the first two, you're first told she's rubbing her hand, which is wet, against her jeans. In (3) you know her hand is wet by the word "dried", then you're told why it's wet, then you're told how she dried it. It's easier to follow, I think, even if it isn't literary gold.
Instead of
"She rubbed her still-wet hand from showering against her jeans."
I would recommend:
(1) "She rubbed her hand - still wet from showering - against her jeans."
(2) "She rubbed her hand, which was still wet from showering, against her jeans."
(3) "She dried her hand, still wet from showering, by rubbing it against her jeans."
(3) is probably the biggest deviation from the original thought, but I think it's easier to follow because you get what she's doing and why. With the first two, you're first told she's rubbing her hand, which is wet, against her jeans. In (3) you know her hand is wet by the word "dried", then you're told why it's wet, then you're told how she dried it. It's easier to follow, I think, even if it isn't literary gold.
The original is not merely awkward, but grammatically incorrect. One can't simply plop a prepositional phrase down anywhere in the sentence and rely on the reader determining what is meant. That is not only poor grammar but poor etiquette. The implicit message to the reader is "I couldn't be bothered to put this in a coherent form, so you'll just have to do it for me". A correct version would be "She rubbed her still-wet-from-showering hands against her jeans." If one objects to having so many words connected by hyphens, one can take one of the sentences suggested by vet. However, in sentence (1) by vet, one should have dashes rather than hyphens, and in sentence (3), readers must work a bit harder than they should have to determine that "still wet from showering" applies to her hand rather than her.
According to rule 3 here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/607/02/ the phrase "still wet from showering" in vet's sentence #1 should be set off by commas, not dashes. Just as I did in my original suggestion, in fact.
I don't see anything anything about using commas instead of dashes on that link, Rapp. "Here's a place where commas are appropriate" does not mean the same thing as "Here's a place where only commas are appropriate".