Can someone please help me with this?

Question

I am doing an interpretive essay on a book and I wrote a sentence that seems not-so-right (to me, that is.) Although, it might just be because I’ve read it too many times. Can someone please check to see if I wrote it correctly? Or if I need to make any changes? I would really appreciate it!

Here it is:

Alfred and his armies are inspired to battle by Our Lady's message of Christian joy and bravery, and her apparition at Ethandune has a significant impact on Alfred and his men in the most despairing of situations.

It’s the “despairing of situations” part that seems weird to me. Does it make sense? Or are there any changes I need to make to it?

Answer 1

The only change I think you need to make is to change “the” to “their”:

”… in their most despairing of situations.”

Answer 2

The question that needs to be answer here is, "Can the word despairing be used as a noun?" because that is how you have used it in the sentence. When we use the -ing form of a verb as a noun, it is called a gerund. For example: Swimming is good exercise. Swimming in this sentence is called a gerund. When I look up "swimming" in the dictionary, it tells me that "swimming" can be used as an adjective and a noun (or gerund). I checked two dictionaries and neither one recognizes the use of "despairing" as a gerund/noun. It is recognized as an adjective and of course a verb. So the answer is no. Using "desperate" as Katherine suggested seems to be the best option. I also agree with Kathryn that the sentence is clumsy as it reads and would be better as two sentences or another change.

Answer 3

Two comments:

Your sentence is sometimes called a "run-on." I suggest that you make it into two sentences: end the first sentence after "bravery."

"Despairing" does seem to me to be the wrong word. Have you considered "desperate"?