# With barely enough time     ride to Radom



## Baltic Sea

Witam wszystkich ponownie!

Czy mógłby ktoś ocenić poprawność tłumaczenia poniższego zdania na polski?

With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face, a car pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered me a ride to Radom.

Ledwo mi starczyło czasu na usunięcie niesfornych pasm futra, które przylepiło się do mojej twarzy, aż tu (nagle i niespodziewanie) zatrzymuje się samochód i młoda businesswoman, która znakomicie włada angielskim, proponuje mi podwiezienie do Radomia.

Celowo wybrałem to zdanie, ponieważ - chociaż sens jest zachowany - to wydaje się jakby pierwsza część dotyczyła samochodu, a nie człowieka przebranego za goryla. Moim zdaniem to zdanie można byłoby napisać inaczej, np.

Hardly had I had enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face when / before a car pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered me a ride to Radom.

Dziękuję. Mogę się mylić.


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## LilianaB

Baltic, what is the purpose of this translation? If you want to know if you understood the sentence correctly: yes, you did. If you want to know if this is a correct translation that can be published or handed in in school, for example -- no it is not. Do you know what fur he is talking about? Is it clear from the preceding sentence, or paragraph? Was he in a gorilla costume? 
ą
The first part refers to the man, not to his car.   

You understood it correctly, just fix the Polish version a little bit. _Ledwo zdążyłem pozbyć sie (odsunąć) niesforne pasma futra zakrywające mi twarz (z twarzy) jak podjechal samochód i młoda biznesmenka wspaniale mówiaca po angielsku zaproponowła że podrzuci mnie do Radomia_ -- my version.


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## Baltic Sea

In my opinion, the whole sentence does not make sense from a grammatical point of view. Just look the first part.

With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face - this clause tells us about experiences of a man who had dressed up as a gorilla and had barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to his face. The second part of the sentence mentions a car that pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered him a ride to Radom.

*With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face*, *a car pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered me a ride to Radom.
*
The sentence does make sense, but starts with a statement regarding the man having barely enough time to remove ..... and ends in a statement about a car and a businesswoman.


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## Baltic Sea

I stopped going to school a long time ago.


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## Thomas1

Baltic Sea, are you talking about the dangling modifier?
If so, I think you are correct.
However, this type of sentences isn't rare and people will understand the intended meaning without much problem.


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## LilianaB

Baltic Sea said:


> In my opinion, the whole sentence does not make sense from a grammatical point of view. Just look the first part.
> 
> With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face - this clause tells us about experiences of a man who had dressed up as a gorilla and had barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to his face. The second part of the sentence mentions a car that pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered him a ride to Radom.
> 
> *With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur that had stuck to my face*, *a car pulled up and a young businesswoman with a fantastic command of the English language offered me a ride to Radom.
> *
> The sentence does make sense, but starts with a statement regarding the man having barely enough time to remove ..... and ends in a statement about a car and a businesswoman.



Are you sure Baltic you copied the whole sentence? Maybe you have al link to the original text. It should really read: _With barely enough time to remove the unruly strands of fur (hair_ -- most likely) _that had stuck to my face I looked at the road -- _(just as an example)_, as a car pulled up _ etc. Was it translated from Polish? The first part definitely refers to the man, but there is a part missing, that will make the sentence clear.


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## Baltic Sea

Tkomas1 knows well what I am talking about. I did my best to copy the sentence without any errors.


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## LilianaB

In your sentence -- the one posted, the way the participle is used is considered an error by most people. Was the English sentence translated from Polish?


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## Baltic Sea

I don't know. The article was written in English. Yes, exactly. I thought from the beginning that there was something fishy about the sentence. As Thomas1 pointed out, even wrongly formulated sentences with misplaced dangling modifiers are usually understood.


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## LilianaB

Yes, but they would be marked wrong on any tests, and in any type of more serious writing.


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## Baltic Sea

That's right. The same applies to past or present participle.


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