"I was fearless up until I broke my back, and it's not like that disappears, but you just suddenly realize that this physical form you're in is mine and I'm going to live with it until I die, and I want it to work as well as it can." - Orlando Bloom, in British OK
Orlando has made a shift in pronoun person.
Second person pronouns are commonly used to make generalizations. In many cases, a shift between the second person and the first person can make sense because it represents the application of a generalized idea to a personal situation or belief.
Orlando has made an awkward shift in pronoun person. He switches person in the middle of an idea, and while it is easy to understand what he is saying, the literal meaning of his statement is unusual.
Orlando begins his statement by relating a personal experience in the first person: "I was fearless"; "I broke my back." He then switches to the second person to make a generalization: "you just suddenly realize"; "this physical form you're in." He switches back to the first person in the middle of the clause: "this physical form you're in is mine." The literal interpretation of this clause is that the physical forms that other people are in belong to Orlando. This does not make sense.
One way to create a logical meaning in Orlando's statement is to remove the generalization by avoiding the use of the second person:
"I was fearless up until I broke my back, and it's not like that disappears, but I just suddenly realized that this physical form I'm in is mine and I'm going to live with it until I die, and I want it to work as well as it can."
Another way to avoid the awkward interpretation of Orlando's statement is to continue the generalization and change the instances of the person at the end of the statement to the second person:
"I was fearless up until I broke my back, and it's not like that disappears, but you just suddenly realize that this physical form you're in is yours and you're going to live with it until you die, and I want mine to work as well as it can."
These shifts in pronoun person are logical.
5 Comments
maybe you guys should get a better life. who cares about this kind of stuff.
That's a great point, LHuggs! Who does care about this kind of stuff, anyhow?
Some people who are studying for standardized examinations or preparing for grammar tests might be learning about the types of errors we detail on this site. Students have found that reading examples of errors in quotes by real people is a little more interesting than learning the rules in a textbook.
We don't really think that the rules we explain need to be followed any time anyone speaks; rather, we are just using examples of errors in everyday speech to demonstrate the proper use of grammar and diction.
Agreed that this site provides a valuable service in helping promote better grammar, and does it in a very entertaining way. I think LHuggs might want to consider spending _more_ time on this site, considering the capitalization errors, punctuation errors and coloquialisms in his post. Personally I tend to put as much effort into reading someone's post as they have put into writing it. LHuggs is an exception for the sake of my argument.
One observation on Orlando's statement, and your correction - aren't they both run-on sentences?
CarstenR
Thanks, Carsten!
Orlando's statement is very long, and while his thoughts might run on, we believe that the sentences do not do so grammatically. The statement is a succession of independent clauses connected by commas and coordinating conjunctions in what we believe is a grammatically correct manner.
This is how we see it:
[independent clause], and [independent clause], but [independent clause with compound direct object], and [independent clause].
The illogical shifts in person are not the only errors here.
The sentence begins, "I was fearless up until I broke my back, and it's not like that disappears."
"Up" here is nonsensical, and "as if" should be substituted for "like".
"I was fearless until I broke my back, and it's not as if that disappears."
Post a comment