Thread: ... 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world.

"There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world."

Here is 'left in the world' the attribute to the 'wireless telegraphs'?
That is, "There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' that the factory produced and that left in the world."

The subject of the sentence is "Just a few of the wireless telegraphs the factory produced". You can rearrange it like this:

Just a few of the wireless telegraphs the factory produced are left in the world.

Originally Posted by bitpicker

The subject of the sentence is "Just a few of the wireless telegraphs the factory produced". You can rearrange it like this:

Just a few of the wireless telegraphs the factory produced are left in the world.

bitpicker, but then why is "There are" used there?

"There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world." = "There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced still in existence."

Originally Posted by sperk

"There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world." = "There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced still in existence."

That is, is "There" the subject of the sentence nevertheless (and "are" is the predicate)? I'm a little confused )

This is termed an existential sentence:
existential sentence - definition and examples of existential sentences

"There" is called a dummy subject (not the real subject.)
I think you are wondering if "there" has any verbal capacity and the answer is no, it has to be followed by a form of the verb "to be" which is the predicate (plural in this case because the subject "wireless telegraphs" is plural.)

sperk,
I know the constructions with "there + to be" such as:
There is the ice on the lake.
There are some people outside.
There might be drinks if you wait for a bit.
etc

I comprehend the sentence: There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced.
I comprehend the sentence: Just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world.
But There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world. remains unintelligible to me (It so happens that there are two predicate: "are" and "left" but that is not possible.

I think "left" is actually a present participle and means the same as "remaning".

There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' that the factory produced remaining in the world.

BTW, this is a very poorly written sentence.

Originally Posted by oldboy

sperk,
I know the constructions with "there + to be" such as:
There is the ice on the lake.
There are some people outside.
There might be drinks if you wait for a bit.
etc

That is exactly the type of sentence we are talking about. "There are" has the same function in all of them. The first one, though, should have no article before "ice".

I comprehend the sentence: There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced.
I comprehend the sentence: Just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world.
But There are just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world. remains unintelligible to me (It so happens that there are two predicate: "are" and "left" but that is not possible.

Sperk is almost right, "left" is a past participle here, denoting passive. Consider: "There are only a few biscuits left (over)". Maybe you can see it better when I add "over"; this sentence means that only few biscuits remain. "Left" is not past tense of "leave" as in "Elvis left the building", but its past participle. "Are" is the only predicate here.

Your sentence:

Just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world.

is actually grammatically incorrect, so whatever you seem to understand here is misunderstood. This sentence lacks a conjugated verb, and it is not even possible to see "left" as a conjugated verb here. It would be different if "in" were dropped, then the wireless telegraphs would have packed their things and left the world for someplace else, but that is clearly a nonsensical sentence.

Originally Posted by bitpicker

Sperk is almost right, "left" is a past participle here, denoting passive.

That's what I needed!

Originally Posted by bitpicker

Your sentence:

Just a few of the 'wireless telegraphs' the factory produced left in the world.

Yes, I've made a mistake! It would be necessary to write it like you did so above:
Just a few of the wireless telegraphs the factory produced are left in the world.

Bitpicker, sperk, thank you so much.