in a bad shape

[navi tasan]

1) He was driving his car around damaged.
Is this sentence correct and meaningful?

2) He was driving his car around in a bad shape.
Could one use '2' if his car is in a bad shape?

 

[jutfrank]

1) Yes.

2) I'm not quite sure what you're asking. Are you asking whether in a bad shape is synonymous with damaged? Or is this a question about who or what is damaged?

 

[navi tasan]

Thank you very much Jutfrank,

If his car is in a bad shape, and he is not in a bad shape, could one use '2'?
In other words, could 'in bad shape' modify 'his car'?

 

[probus]

Including the indefinite article in the idiom "bad shape" is unnatural. Just say the car he was driving was in bad shape, i.e. poor condition.

 

[jutfrank]

He was driving his car around in bad condition.

The phrase in bad condition would most likely be interpreted to be about the car. This is largely because we don't really use in bad condition to talk about people. If you were to use in bad shape, it would be much easier to be interpreted that he was in bad shape. Still, both interpretations are possible, so the sentences are ambiguous.

Don't use the indefinite article a in either phrase.