The last grill brush you will ever need.

Is this a sentence at all?  To assume an understood "This is" or
"It is" won't account for it as they have very different meaning
possible references.  One almost demands that the brush be
in the vicinity for reference.  The other might well reference a
brush that has yet to be created.

I'd take "ever" as a simple adverb with the caveat that it  must
precede the verb it modifies.  Perhaps it also needs something such
as "will" in front of it.

The understood "that" not stated in the clause is a relative pronoun
that serves as the direct object of "will need."

Is "last" anything more than a simple adjective?  Does it function any
differently than, say, "ultimate"?

tj



On Thursday 12/23/2010 at 7:45 am, Scott Lavitt   wrote:
> Happy holidays all.
>
> I've been a member of this listserve for years and occasionally seek 
> your collective opinion. Question: how does one parse the following?:
>
> The last grill brush you will ever need.
>
> I could see this as an independent clause, with "you" as the subj. and 
> "The last grill brush" as the DO, but that doesn't seem right. Seems 
> there is an implied "It is," making the above a noun phrase, and 
> therefore not an independent clause. Thoughts?
>
> Thank you,
>
> Scott Lavitt
>
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