Le 29/11/2021 à 23:23, Snidely a écrit :
> Hibou formulated the question :
>>
>> I'm not sure I follow. Scattered books are not a type of book, so I
>> don't think there's any ambiguity. I do, however, prefer your wording
>> to mine, and both avoid the singular-plural problem.
>
> Think of it as a difference in scale, like pond vs ocean. "There are
> scattered books on the desk" only tells you there is more than one, and
> there might be lots of room for manuscript paper for writing the next
> book. "Books are scattered on the desk" suggests an untidy heap that
> has spread out[1], and you might not have room for the post-it of the
> maid's telephone number.
>
> [1] or never coalesced around its center of mass
I don't think I'd read quite as much into it as that, though I agree
that "books scattered" is more suggestive of the action that put them
there than "scattered books", which describes a state.
As for the maid's phone number - if I had a maid, I think I'd have it
off by heart.