By accusing the king of murder, he signed his own death warrant. 因被指控谋杀国王，他签署了死刑执行令。 I saw this example sentence in Collins dictionary but I don’t understand it. Its translation in China means he si

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王妍琪Celia

By accusing the king of murder, he signed his own death warrant. 因被指控谋杀国王，他签署了死刑执行令。 I saw this example sentence in Collins dictionary but I don’t understand it. Its translation in China means he signed the death warrant because he was accused of murdering the king. The logic is messy. My understanding to English version is he accused the king of murder then out of scare or justice he just signed the death warrant to put himself to death. And I still don’t know why it is “By” here unless he is the king.

2022年3月27日 13:46

回答 · 12

You are right, there is a discrepancy in meaning.

2022年3月27日

招待者

Accusing the king would lead to him being killed. In the literal sense, this action would lead to his death. So the words, "he signed a death warrant" is a figurative way of saying he did something that would cause his death.

2022年3月27日

The word 'by' is used to indicate the method or means used. 'I go to [my place of] work by bus.' 'I did well on the test by working hard to prepare for it.' 'He signed his [own] death warrant by accusing the king of murder.' Rearranging the sentence : 'By accusing the king of murder, he signed his [own] death warrant.'

2022年3月27日

Also, we would call this "a sacrifice". The man knows that he will be killed if he accuses the king, but he accepts this and does it anyway.

2022年3月27日

The King will have him killed. It is being said that "he signed his own death warrant" because accusing the King will lead to the King ordering that his accuser must be killed.

2022年3月27日

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