This book is about the perils and joys of trying to be a decent mother in a world ‘intent’ on making you feel like a bad one.

‘intent’ after ‘world’ can only function as noun,  no?

I just don’t know how to relate it to any word in the sentence.

Please help me.

I think it’s a fairly common to exclude “which + to be” in “which + to be+ adjective” when using a predicative adjective.

It could as well have been:.
“..a world that/which is intent…”

“that” and “which” are so common that at times they become rather cumbersome and are just dropped out.

Another would be
The car which I saw in the garage belongs to Tom
Removing which:
The car I saw ....
(Here which is the object of the verb “saw”.)

Or still:
I live in Tambaram which is a town which is very close to the Coromandal coast.

If you had noticed the “which is” would have grown rather annoying.

So,
I live in Tambaram a town very close to the Coromandal coast.

But safer it is to stick to rigid grammar and use “which+ to be + adjective” instead of dropping them out.

And by the way, “intent” functions as an adjective although it is never used attributively.
Example: He is intent on pleasing his dad.<=> He is keen on pleasing his dad

‘intent’ after ‘world’ can only function as noun,  no?

No. It’s an adjective modifying “world.” It means “determined.”

Keen’s better. Denotes acuity, sharpness or the like. Determined seems more of a mental resolve; something powerful but blunt.

“Keen on,” “determined to,” or the colloquial “hell-bent on” all work equally well. It depends on your rhetorical “intent.”

true that. However I personally prefer “keen” to “determined”. Moreover the preposition following keen is the same as that of intent, facilitating easier explanation for a beginner.

And if I may add, I have no understanding of rhetoric whatsoever.

I prefer ‘determined’. A casual gambler may be keen to be a millionaire, but only a serious or compulsive one is intent on being a millionaire (i.e. will not stop until he/she becomes one).

Pardon me. But I don’t take that. Again, each one to his opinion.

My only point is that “determined” has one connotation, whereas “keen” has several. No one speaking a regional dialect would misunderstand “determined.” “Keen is not as clear. For example, one older meaning of “keen” is an idiomatic expression meaning “groovy.”

Agree with you on that.

I agree with everything saparris said. Kudos for a good explanation.

Regards,
Marcus
Placement financier

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