Whole roofs were ripped off

hirashin · 22 Jan 2015

Dear native English speakers,
I have a question about the meaning of "whole roofs" in the following sentence.
(a) So terrible was the storm that whole roofs were ripped off.

Is it different from (b) or (c)?
(b) So terrible was the storm that the whole roof was ripped off.
(c) So terrible was the storm that the whole roofs were ripped off.

Hirashin

Grandpa Frank · 22 Jan 2015

A-Seems like many roofs were blown away.

B- Seems like it is talking about just one building lost it's roof.

C- Seems a bit awkward sounding , like one big building with several roofs suffered roof damage or it could be many buildings had their roofs destroyed. I like A better than C.

hirashin · 22 Jan 2015

Thanks for the help, Uncle Frank.
So (a) is almost the same as:
(d) So terrible was the storm that many roofs were ripped off.
Am I right?

Hirashin

Grandpa Frank · 23 Jan 2015

You are correct as far as I can tell. I always feel I must warn you I flunked English 2 years in a row in high school and do not consider myself an English language expert. I just say what sounds right to me and always hope you get more answers than mine.

WonkoTheSane · 23 Jan 2015

With a the focus seems to be on the strength of the storm, with b the focus seems to be on the extent of the damage.

Mark of Zorro · 23 Jan 2015

I agree with both Uncle Frank and Wonko the Sane. As Wonko the Sane points out, adding "the" really changes the emphasis.

But I always thought the plural of roof was rooves. Apparently both are technically correct but rooves is almost outdated. Pronuciation-wise I would never say roofs.

Stuntie · 25 Jan 2015

A, B and D are fine, but C is wrong. It's an odd one to explain. In B we are refering to a specific known roof so uses a definate article. C mixes a definate article with an undefined and ambiguous set of objects - 'whole roofs'. Here we are talking about a non-specific set of roofs. We would need more information to say which roofs they were. In the sentance the focus is on the idea of roofs being blown off in general due to the strength of the storm, not the specific roofs blown off.

Whole roofs here refers to 'the entire roof', not just tiles being blown off. In the UK we use often use thin slate roofing tiles. Buildings can easily loose a few in strong winds - our office lost two in recent strong winds for instance. But loosing the entire roof would take a major storm.

We would always write it as roofs, but it is normaly pronounced like 'roovs', with the f being voiced to v.

hirashin · 30 Jan 2015

Uncle Frank said:
You are correct as far as I can tell. I always feel I must warn you I flunked English 2 years in a row in high school and do not consider myself an English language expert. I just say what sounds right to me and always hope you get more answers than mine.

Thanks, Uncle Frank. You are always a great help to me.

Don't worry, Frank. What I want to know is whether my sentences sound right to the native English speakers' ears.

hirashin · 30 Jan 2015

Thanks for the help, Wonko the Sane, Mark of Zorro, and Stuntie.

Stuntie said:
We would always write it as roofs, but it is normaly pronounced like 'roovs', with the f being voiced to v.

Oh, I didn't know that. No dictionaries of mine say that. Interesting.

Whole roofs were ripped off

hirashin

Sempai

Grandpa Frank

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hirashin

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Grandpa Frank

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WonkoTheSane

先輩

Mark of Zorro

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Stuntie

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hirashin

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hirashin

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