“placed each of the four people in the four chairs” make sense?












1















Harry looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.



“Bring them in,” he said, and his voice echoed through the silent
dungeon.



The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this
time, flanking a group of four people. Harry saw the people in the
crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one
another.



The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor.



There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. ...




I feel "placed each of the four people in the four chairs" doesn't sound quite right. Either "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" or "placed the four people in the four chairs" makes more sense to me.



Any thought about it?



-- Excerpted from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire






sentence-construction







share|improve this question
























  • Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    1 hour ago












  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
    – dan
    1 hour ago
















1















Harry looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.



“Bring them in,” he said, and his voice echoed through the silent
dungeon.



The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this
time, flanking a group of four people. Harry saw the people in the
crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one
another.



The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor.



There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. ...




I feel "placed each of the four people in the four chairs" doesn't sound quite right. Either "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" or "placed the four people in the four chairs" makes more sense to me.



Any thought about it?



-- Excerpted from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire






sentence-construction







share|improve this question
























  • Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    1 hour ago












  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
    – dan
    1 hour ago














1












1








1








Harry looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.



“Bring them in,” he said, and his voice echoed through the silent
dungeon.



The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this
time, flanking a group of four people. Harry saw the people in the
crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one
another.



The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor.



There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. ...




I feel "placed each of the four people in the four chairs" doesn't sound quite right. Either "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" or "placed the four people in the four chairs" makes more sense to me.



Any thought about it?



-- Excerpted from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire






sentence-construction







share|improve this question
















Harry looked up at Crouch and saw that he looked gaunter and grayer than ever before. A nerve was twitching in his temple.



“Bring them in,” he said, and his voice echoed through the silent
dungeon.



The door in the corner opened yet again. Six dementors entered this
time, flanking a group of four people. Harry saw the people in the
crowd turn to look up at Mr. Crouch. A few of them whispered to one
another.



The dementors placed each of the four people in the four chairs with chained arms that now stood on the dungeon floor.



There was a thickset man who stared blankly up at Crouch; a thinner and more nervous-looking man, whose eyes were darting around the crowd; a woman with thick, shining dark hair and heavily hooded eyes, who was sitting in the chained chair as though it were a throne; and a boy in his late teens, who looked nothing short of petrified. ...




I feel "placed each of the four people in the four chairs" doesn't sound quite right. Either "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" or "placed the four people in the four chairs" makes more sense to me.



Any thought about it?



-- Excerpted from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire






sentence-construction




sentence-construction






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited 1 hour ago









ColleenV♦

10.4k53159




10.4k53159










asked 2 hours ago









dan

4,46622565




4,46622565












  • Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    1 hour ago












  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
    – dan
    1 hour ago


















  • Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
    – Tᴚoɯɐuo
    1 hour ago












  • @Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
    – dan
    1 hour ago
















Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
– Tᴚoɯɐuo
1 hour ago






Is there something in the earlier context which explains now stood? Did those chairs materialize out of thin air or something?
– Tᴚoɯɐuo
1 hour ago














@Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
– dan
1 hour ago




@Tᴚoɯɐuo, I added more context. Previous context indicated that usually there was only one chair, and now this time there were four chairs.
– dan
1 hour ago










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















2














The original and both of your alternatives sound to me like all the people were placed in all the chairs, a lump of four people on a stack of four chairs. Uncomfortable, to be sure, and perhaps not physically possible.



What is obviously intended is that there were four separate people placed into four separate chairs, one person to a chair. I can think of a handful of ways to re-phrase the original, the prominent being, "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."



However, the original at least provides an ambiguity, the possibility of either all four people together on all four chairs together, or four people and four chairs, one person per chair. We must allow our intuition to help us resolve this ambiguity, and that seems to be what Ms. Rawling (the author) is expecting here.






share|improve this answer





















  • Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
    – dan
    1 hour ago










  • @dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
    – cobaltduck
    1 hour ago










  • Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
    – dan
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    @dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
    – Darth Pseudonym
    46 mins ago











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1 Answer
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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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active

oldest

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active

oldest

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2














The original and both of your alternatives sound to me like all the people were placed in all the chairs, a lump of four people on a stack of four chairs. Uncomfortable, to be sure, and perhaps not physically possible.



What is obviously intended is that there were four separate people placed into four separate chairs, one person to a chair. I can think of a handful of ways to re-phrase the original, the prominent being, "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."



However, the original at least provides an ambiguity, the possibility of either all four people together on all four chairs together, or four people and four chairs, one person per chair. We must allow our intuition to help us resolve this ambiguity, and that seems to be what Ms. Rawling (the author) is expecting here.






share|improve this answer





















  • Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
    – dan
    1 hour ago










  • @dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
    – cobaltduck
    1 hour ago










  • Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
    – dan
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    @dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
    – Darth Pseudonym
    46 mins ago
















2














The original and both of your alternatives sound to me like all the people were placed in all the chairs, a lump of four people on a stack of four chairs. Uncomfortable, to be sure, and perhaps not physically possible.



What is obviously intended is that there were four separate people placed into four separate chairs, one person to a chair. I can think of a handful of ways to re-phrase the original, the prominent being, "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."



However, the original at least provides an ambiguity, the possibility of either all four people together on all four chairs together, or four people and four chairs, one person per chair. We must allow our intuition to help us resolve this ambiguity, and that seems to be what Ms. Rawling (the author) is expecting here.






share|improve this answer





















  • Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
    – dan
    1 hour ago










  • @dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
    – cobaltduck
    1 hour ago










  • Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
    – dan
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    @dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
    – Darth Pseudonym
    46 mins ago














2












2








2






The original and both of your alternatives sound to me like all the people were placed in all the chairs, a lump of four people on a stack of four chairs. Uncomfortable, to be sure, and perhaps not physically possible.



What is obviously intended is that there were four separate people placed into four separate chairs, one person to a chair. I can think of a handful of ways to re-phrase the original, the prominent being, "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."



However, the original at least provides an ambiguity, the possibility of either all four people together on all four chairs together, or four people and four chairs, one person per chair. We must allow our intuition to help us resolve this ambiguity, and that seems to be what Ms. Rawling (the author) is expecting here.






share|improve this answer












The original and both of your alternatives sound to me like all the people were placed in all the chairs, a lump of four people on a stack of four chairs. Uncomfortable, to be sure, and perhaps not physically possible.



What is obviously intended is that there were four separate people placed into four separate chairs, one person to a chair. I can think of a handful of ways to re-phrase the original, the prominent being, "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."



However, the original at least provides an ambiguity, the possibility of either all four people together on all four chairs together, or four people and four chairs, one person per chair. We must allow our intuition to help us resolve this ambiguity, and that seems to be what Ms. Rawling (the author) is expecting here.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 2 hours ago









cobaltduck

30116




30116












  • Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
    – dan
    1 hour ago










  • @dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
    – cobaltduck
    1 hour ago










  • Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
    – dan
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    @dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
    – Darth Pseudonym
    46 mins ago


















  • Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
    – dan
    1 hour ago










  • @dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
    – cobaltduck
    1 hour ago










  • Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
    – dan
    1 hour ago






  • 1




    @dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
    – Darth Pseudonym
    46 mins ago
















Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
– dan
1 hour ago




Is there any difference between "placed each of the four people in each of the four chairs" and "...placed each of the four people in one of the four chairs..."? I feel they are pretty much the same.
– dan
1 hour ago












@dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
– cobaltduck
1 hour ago




@dan Perhaps it's a national/ regional difference thing (I'm from midwest U.S., not sure where you're from). To me, the each/each version implies lumping together, and the each/one version implies one-to-one.
– cobaltduck
1 hour ago












Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
– dan
1 hour ago




Thanks! I'm just an English language learner. I want to know what native speakers take for it.
– dan
1 hour ago




1




1




@dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
– Darth Pseudonym
46 mins ago




@dan There are a lot of times when we don't follow our own rules very strictly. In this context, the actual words are a little bit ambiguous, but since the idea of putting each person in four different chairs is ridiculous, we just assume correctly that each person gets one chair.
– Darth Pseudonym
46 mins ago


















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