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mismatched colours
Pleasea help
mismatched colours = a) colour mismatched b) colours mismatched c) color-mismatched d) colours-mismatched e) none of above can circle one or more answer(s)
But the question is which of these means the same as "mismatched colours". My answer: "b) colours mismatched".
Probably (b) because it means the same thing its just that the word order is around the other way. Otherwise, in everyday speech I would say "mismatched colours" or even "colour-mismatch", which is none of the above.
Note: 'Colours' is the British and Canadian spelling of the word . The American English spelling is 'colors.' The British English spelling reflects a Norman French influence.
First of all, this problem is ridiculous and I think it's hardly possible to settle what the "correct" answer is without access to similar problems with solutions.
I'd strongly vote for e). When a) and b) are used in the same context (i.e. as noun-phrases) as "mismatched colours", they are simply not grammatically correct (the adjective precedes the noun in English) [they still might be (more or less) interchangable in a constructed sentence like "with colors mismatched..." - "with mismatched colors..."]. c) is adjectivish (so can't be used in the same place as "mismatched colours"), but otherwise correct (and for some reason uses the US-spelling). d) is always wrong.
The adjective usually precedes the noun in English but putting them the other way around is not necessarily grammatically incorrect, e.g. "Governor General".
C'mon, "Governor General" is a (possibly French-inspired) fixed expression which does not mean the same as "general governor". Certainly, a sentence like
"The colors mismatched made it look awful." is not correct.
No, I wouldn't say a sentence like that but besides those fixed expressions sometimes you might find the noun before its adjective in poetry.
Half the roof was newly thatched, Looking quite odd: colours mismatched.
I agree that word order in poetry is a little bit freer. However, in your example "colours mismatched" is an ellipsis short for "The colours were mismatched" and is not exactly meaning "mismatched colors".
Nice poem, though :) |