# Question for grammarians
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 11, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558 "2010-01-11T21:18:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/1 "2010-01-11T21:18:14Z")
“He looked thoughtfully.”
The context is a conversation between two characters. One of them has said something that made the other one think.
It looks wrong to me, but I don’t know the rule so can’t explain why it might be wrong. Is it wrong?
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/2 "2010-01-11T21:26:19Z")
I’d either write:
“He looked thoughtful.”
or
“He looked at [the other person] thoughtfully.”
I don’t think it’s a rule, but I just think “He looked thoughtfully” sets the reader’s down the wrong track for a few moments. However, which version of the two I have suggested is right depends on what meaning you want to convey.
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### Author:  [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/3 "2010-01-11T21:30:32Z")
thoughtful is an adjective. thoughtfully is an adverb. thoughtful would describe the person. the adverb would describe the action of looking. however, if the word was intended to modify the looking, it would be phrased “he thoughtfully looked”. placing ‘thoughtfully’ after the ‘look’, and thus after the action, references it back to the subject.
it might not be any technical grammatical error seeing as how English has rather lax word order rules regarding modifiers, but in terms of “stylistic” no-nos this is as egregious as it gets.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/4 "2010-01-11T21:31:34Z")
I’d say “He regarded her thoughtfully” or something. “looked” is asking for confusion.
Unless you ARE describing his appearance, in which case it’s “thoughtful.”
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### Author:  [@Sweet\_Raisin\_Danish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Raisin_Danish)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/5 "2010-01-11T21:46:00Z")
It depends on what you mean by “looked”.
Either:
a) Describing how he looked at the other person (e.g., “He looked longingly at the donut”)
or
b) How he appears when the other person looks at him (e.g., “He looked like a pig eating that donut”)
In the first scenario, the correct usage would be “He looked thoughtfully” (thoughtfully used as an adverb modifying “looked”)
In the second instance, the correct usage would be “He looked thoughtful” (thoughtful used as an adjective modifying “he”)
Best bet would be to find a more definitive verb to avoid confusion, like “He glanced thoughtfully” or “He appeared thoughtful” (Those are simple examples, you get the drift, I hope)
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/6 "2010-01-11T22:38:46Z")
Thanks!
I haven’t noticed any other flubs in this book, so maybe it was just a typo. Funny how little things can bring you up short when reading. I’ve spent way too much time thinking about this one. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Sweet\_Raisin\_Danish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Raisin_Danish)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/7 "2010-01-11T22:45:15Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Thanks!
>
> I haven’t noticed any other flubs in this book, so maybe it was just a typo. Funny how little things can bring you up short when reading. I’ve spent way too much time thinking about this one. 🙂
Ah – I didn’t get that this was a book you were reading. I thought this was something you were writing.
It’s not necessarily a typo depending on meaning/context as I laid out above. However, it’s a weak verb usage in that it can be easily misinterpreted and therefore, appear to be wrong and take the reader (like you) off on a tangent – exactly what an author DOESN’T want to happen. A stronger verb could have been suggested during editing, if you ask me …
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### Author:  [@LunarPlexus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunarPlexus)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/8 "2010-01-11T23:42:06Z")
> [@Sweet\_Raisin\_Danish](#):
>
> It depends on what you mean by “looked”.
>
> Either:
>
> a) Describing how he looked at the other person (e.g., “He looked longingly at the donut”)
Donuts is people!!!
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [January 11, 2010, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/9 "2010-01-11T23:47:35Z")
To the OP: Can you give us the context leading up to it?
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/10 "2010-01-12T00:34:32Z")
> [@lissener](#):
>
> To the OP: Can you give us the context leading up to it?
The character who “looked thoughtfully” is a teenage boy who’s being schooled by an older man – politically and socially schooled. The kid is arrogant but willing to listen, since his environment is new to him, and he has some respect for the older guy.
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### Author:  [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/11 "2010-01-12T00:50:54Z")
No, specifically the sentence or two beforehand. As you can see from the responses, the answer to your query depends entirely on whether “looked” means “regarded” or “appeared.” The situational context doesn’t answer that question, but the prose leading up to it might.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/12 "2010-01-12T03:13:53Z")
Well, damn. I scanned the last 50 pages or so and can’t find the damn scene. I’ll keep looking. Thanks for hanging in.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/13 "2010-01-12T14:51:46Z")
Found it. The conversation was between different characters than what I remembered, but the context is the same (I think).
“You’re responsible for matters dealing with sedition – you’re not a policeman. This is nothing to do with you. He broke my sword – it’s priceless – and he seriously wounded my nephew and the sons of four members of the court. They want his blood and, I’ll tell you this for nothing, so do I.”
**Vipond looked thoughtfully.**
“It may be possible to repair The Edge.”
“You don’t know anything about it. Don’t pretend you do.”
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/14 "2010-01-12T15:09:34Z")
Yup, should definitely be “thoughtful” there.
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### Author:  [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/15 "2010-01-12T15:12:25Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> Yup, should definitely be “thoughtful” there.
Or, “He looked thoughtfully at the broken sword.”
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/16 "2010-01-12T19:23:46Z")
I’m beginning to think it’s a typo. There’ve been a few other words that were **definitely** typos, and one sentence that made no sense at all.
I’ve heard complaints about UK editions – sloppy proofreading/editing and an inferior product in general, books falling apart, pages missing, etc. I haven’t bought enough UK editions to form an opinion. When I buy UK, it’s because I’m in a hurry or because I prefer the cover art. That’s why I didn’t wait for the US edition of this book (_The Left Hand of god_ by Paul Hoffman).
Thanks for the confirmation, everyone! (Or almost everyone.) 🙂
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### Author:  [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/17 "2010-01-12T19:28:14Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> I’ve heard complaints about UK editions – sloppy proofreading/editing and an inferior product in general, books falling apart, pages missing, etc. …
I see a lot of these problems in US editions, for what it’s worth.
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [January 12, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/18 "2010-01-12T23:40:32Z")
I was going to say “me too” but thinking back, I can’t think of many, either US or UK. Maybe a few small press editions. The most notable had 20+ duplicate pages, which was likely a problem with the printer.
Whenever I bitch about typos or other errors, someone (usually the author) pops up and explains what a laborious process it is, to produce a perfect book. But most often, the book **is** perfect. Or good enough to pass **my** inspection. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Negative\_Lite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Negative_Lite)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/19 "2010-01-15T12:58:48Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#):
>
> Found it. The conversation was between different characters than what I remembered, but the context is the same (I think).
>
> “You’re responsible for matters dealing with sedition – you’re not a policeman. This is nothing to do with you. He broke my sword – it’s priceless – and he seriously wounded my nephew and the sons of four members of the court. They want his blood and, I’ll tell you this for nothing, so do I.”
>
> **Vipond looked thoughtfully.**
>
> “It may be possible to repair The Edge.”
>
> “You don’t know anything about it. Don’t pretend you do.”
The grammar is impeccable and the style is appropriate for the genre.
“Vipond looked thoughtful” would have a different meaning. It would suggest that Vipond’s expression was inward and reflective. Here, the author correctly uses the adverbial form to express that Vipond is in action. Vipond has his gaze directed outward and is examining _something_.
As for the style, some would say writers should “show not tell” and would prefer a sentence like “Vipond’s eyes narrowed” to suggest through description that he was thoughtfully examining something. I like the author’s choice here because the sentence creates dramatic tension. What is Vipond looking at? Oh, I see. He must have been looking at the sword.
In context I find the sentence clear in meaning, elegant and effective.
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-for-grammarians/524558/20 "2010-01-15T14:46:15Z")
> [@Negative\_Lite](#):
>
> The grammar is impeccable and the style is appropriate for the genre.
>
> “Vipond looked thoughtful” would have a different meaning. It would suggest that Vipond’s expression was inward and reflective. Here, the author correctly uses the adverbial form to express that Vipond is in action. Vipond has his gaze directed outward and is examining _something_.
But we don’t know that he’s looking at a sword, or at anything else, since the author omits a direct object. Thus the grammar is _not_ impeccable.
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