She said, "Never trust a man whose eyes are so close together!"
It means the distance between eyes are short.
Does “together” modify “close”?
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Partial answer: It looks like yes, "together" modifies "close". "Close together" = "close to each other/one another", so in whatever way "to each other" modifies "close" (or doesn't), "together" does the same thing. Someone else might know how to describe what "to each other" does. – gotube Aug 30 '21 at 02:48
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@gotube I’m quite surprised that an adverb modifies an adjective, located after the adjectives. – Aug 30 '21 at 02:49
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Also, "close together" is idiomatic, rather than structural, so don't be that surprised :) – gotube Aug 30 '21 at 02:55
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"Close together" is an idiomatic expression, as is its opposite, "far apart". From a practical perspective, they have to be learned as special expressions.
If anything, though, I would say that "close" is better described as modifying "together"; it is the degree to which they are together. Both expressions can be made comparative: Do you want to sit closer together or farther apart? While a distance cannot be specified with "together", it can with "apart": They are 3 meters apart. And note that the distance can be omitted entirely (They are apart), while "apart" cannot (*They are 3 meters), suggesting that 3 meters modifies apart. It seems reasonable, then, to conclude that far also modifies apart, and close modifies together.
nschneid
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