How would you understand the phrase "wrenched open doors" in this sentence?
Hi everyone,
This is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

She "wrenched open doors" and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her.

I'm confused because I think the doors had already been opened therefore she couldn't wrench them. If so, the sentence should be:

She "wrenched the doors open" and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her.

Am I right? Could anyone help me with this? Thank you very much!

Question

How would you understand the phrase "wrenched open doors" in this sentence?
Hi everyone,
This is an excerpt from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone:

She "wrenched open doors" and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her.

I'm confused because I think the doors had already been opened therefore she couldn't wrench them. If so, the sentence should be:

She "wrenched the doors open" and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her.

Am I right? Could anyone help me with this? Thank you very much!

Answer

It is just a reordering of the words "wrenched doors open" (not specifically any particular set of doors). Instead of saying "wrenched the doors open", you can also say "wrenched open the doors" to mean pulled forcefully to open a particular set of doors (that you were talking about previously, or can be inferred from the context).

In fact, it is ordered this way to make it sound nicer in parallel with the next part "marched along corridors".

Verpassen Sie nicht die Gelegenheit, bequem von zu Hause aus eine Sprache zu lernen. Stöbern Sie in unserer Auswahl an erfahrenen Sprachlehrern und melden Sie sich jetzt zu Ihrer ersten Unterrichtsstunde an!