Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 June 19

= June 19 =

Does "particularly" refer back to Murtlap?
Newt says to Jacob, who got bitten by Murtlap:

Newt: That's definitely the Murtlap. You must be particularly susceptible.

Does "particularly" refer back to Murtlap? Does it mean that he is more prone to be affected by the murtlap than other people? Rizosome (talk) 18:12, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * What are you talking about? --Viennese Waltz 18:33, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Seems to be Harry Potter or probably Fantastic Beasts, not Wrath of man. Personuser (talk) 18:53, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * (ec)Something to do with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 18:54, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Definitely Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Unlike Newt, Jacob is a Muggle (or, in the terminology of MACUSA, a "No-Maj"). I do not really understand the question. The adverb "particularly" is an intensifier that modifies the adjective "susceptible". The adjective "susceptible" ascribes a quality to the entity referred to by the pronoun "you". The pronoun "you" refers to Jacob. Newt is saying that Jacob is very susceptible, more so than he (Newt) would have expected. The susceptibility refers to the strong effect that the Murtlap bite had on Jacob. --Lambiam 19:17, 19 June 2021 (UTC)
 * One way this could be confusing is whether it means that Jacob is more susceptible than other people or that Jacob is more susceptible to Murtlaps than to other biters. We are dealing with the first case, but a full sencence "You are particularly susceptible to Murtlaps" seems to allow both interpretations, though a different wording would be probably preferred to convey the second meaning. I hope I got the plural of Murtlap right. Personuser (talk) 22:37, 19 June 2021 (UTC)