linguoboy wrote:It does sound oddly emphatic. Again, it depends what effect you're going for.
Is it oddly emphatic because post modification is applied here but there is no modifiers before the noun
mustache? That is, is it a thumb rule that post modification would be natural only when there is at least one modifier ahead? How are the two examples below? The second one omits
which was.
…a Fascist head -- bald, and with a short mustache which was purely silver.
…a Fascist head -- bald, and with a short mustache purely silver.
Thank you.
Hours later, I've found my previous assumption might go wrong for I've read the sentence below, inside which there is not a single modifier before
bomb.
Ever since Harry had come home…, Uncle Vernon had been treating him like a bomb that might go off at any moment, because Harry Potter wasn’t a normal boy.
Then it comes my second assumption: post modification is a "less-preferred expression" compared to pre modification; it works well only when the modifier phrase or clause is long enough, too long to be well placed ahead. It would be odd if a post modifier is a bit short.
But if so, it comes at once a question: how long should it be at least?