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Native English speaakers, could you please help me with these issues?
1. Does the verb 'to install' make sense in this context:
"Sitting on the sand, I looked to the right of the beach where a foreign family was INSTALLED."
2. And does the verb 'to settle' sound any better:
"Sitting on the sand, I looked to the right of the beach where a foreign family was INSTALLED."
Note: By 'installed' or 'settled', I mean they were lying there, even if just for a couple of hours....
2 Answers
- 4 days ago
While the sentence makes sense in grammatical terms, the word installed would not be used here in this context. On the other hand, 'settled' works much better and sounds much more like a sentence a native speaker would use.
- CogitoLv 75 days ago
'Installed' is fine, but it does imply that they had been there for some time and intended to stay even longer - it sounds like they had multiple deck-chairs, sunshades, wind-breaks, beach rugs, etc.
You could also say that they were settled, which doesn't sound quite as 'permanent'.
Just saying that there was a family there is enough. How would you know they were foreign?
But if you say you looked 'to the right of the beach', you're saying that this family were not ON the beach at all, but in an area away from it and towards your right.
