Identifying parts of a sentence?

Question

How do the bolded sections of the sentences below function grammatically? (taken from David McCullough's *John Adams*) 1. Philadelphia, the provincial capital of Pennsylvania on the western bank of the Delaware River, was a true eighteenth-century metropolis, the largest, wealthiest city in British America, **and the most beautiful.** > It seems to me that "most beautiful" could be tacked onto the the string of adjectives ( the "largest, wealthiest") that precede it. Is there a name for this sort of construction, wherein the last item in a string of modifiers is pulled out and moved to the end? 2. Distilleries and breweries were thriving. Adams found the local beer **so much to his liking** that he temporarily abandoned his usual hard cider. >I'm not sure what's modifying what here. I see the main clause, "Adams found the local beer," and the subordinate clause, "that he temporarily abandoned his usual hard cider," but what's going on the middle?

Answer 1

You're right, you can say, "...the largest, wealthiest, and most beautiful city in British America." By placing and the most beautiful at the end of the sentence, there is an added emphasis on that final adjective, almost as if one were saying, "...and, I might add, the most beautiful." There are different ways of emphasizing parts of a sentence in English. I can say to someone I haven't seen in a while, "I missed you a lot." Compare that to "I missed you...a lot" or "I missed you. A lot." In the latter two instances, the a lot is emphasized.

As for your second query, the "...so much to his liking that he temporarily abandoned...." is similar to a so + adjective + that construction. So, for example, "Adams found the beer so appealing that he temporarily abandoned...."