­
Meaning of an English sentence in The AnswerBank: Phrases & Sayings
Donate SIGN UP

Meaning of an English sentence

Avatar Image
vy311 | 02:58 Tue 05th Dec 2006 | Phrases & Sayings
3 Answers
I would like to know what this sentence means?

"He came to Australia with a smile, and will leave Australia in tears."

Thank you very much.

A learner of English.
Gravatar
Rich Text Editor, the_answer

Answers

1 to 3 of 3rss feed

Best Answer

No best answer has yet been selected by vy311. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.

For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.
There are three possibilities...
a) He arrived in Australia as happy man and he will leave it as a sad man.
b) He arrived in Australia as a happy man and - when he leaves - Australians will be sad.
c) He arrived in Australia as a happy man and - when he leaves - Australians will be happy.
The reason for the difference between (b) and (c) is that the phrase "in tears" might refer to tears of grief or tears of laughter.
I should, of course, have said "four possibilities", because he might have left crying tears of laughter!
although it doesn't necassarily imply that he will be leaving.

If he 'leaves Australia in tears', he may just cause them some upset.

1 to 3 of 3rss feed

Do you know the answer?

Meaning of an English sentence

Answer Question >>
Complete your gift to make an impact