Light filtered through shade

[alpacinou]

Hello,

I saw this example in Longman dictionary:

Light filtered into my kitchen through the soft, green shade of the honey locust tree.

What is the meaning of shade here? Does it mean shadow? How can light filter from shadow? Or does it mean shade of color like we say shades of blue?

Would the sentence work without shade?

Light filtered into my kitchen through the soft, green of the honey locust tree.

 

[Tarheel]

The light came between the leaves and branches and then went through the kitchen window.

 

[alpacinou]

The light came between the leaves and branches and then went through the kitchen window.

I understand the meaning. But I don't know why "shade" is in there. I think it means shade of color. Does the sentence work without it?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I understand the meaning. But I don't know why "shade" is in there. I think it means shade of color. Does the sentence work without it?

Shade doesn't mean color there. Sunlight is filtering through the shadows of the leaves. You can omit soft and green, but you can't omit shade.

The writer is not out in the sun. The writer is in the shade of the tree. Light is filtering through. The light is soft and green. Not the locust tree.

When it's sunny, we call trees with leaves shade trees.

 

[emsr2d2]

If you remove "shade", you need to remove the comma between "soft" and "green". It completely changes the meaning of the sentence. You now have (truncated version) "Light filtered into my kitchen through the soft green of the tree". In that case, "soft green" is a description of the colour. It's not a great sentence but it's grammatically possible.

 

[GoesStation]

When it's sunny, we call trees with leaves shade trees.

As a point of interest, a shade tree is a tree with a wide crown, thickly covered with broad leaves. Locust trees, which have sparse, narrow leaves and a tall, thin growth habit, wouldn't fall into the category. They make great firewood though. I have a bunch of it in the woodshed.

 

[tedmc]

I don't think the colours of the tree with its leaves and branches impart any colour to the "filtered" light as a piece of stained glass would. Light is merely reduced in intensity due to part of it being obstructed; the denser the foliage, the less light would pass through.