http://www.englishforums.com/English/EslGeneralEnglishGrammar-Questions/Forum12.htmAsk your questions on grammar and get your sentence checked. We answer lots of different types of general English grammar questions here. <font color=red>DO NOT post paragraphs and compositions here. Post them in our <a href="http://www.englishforums.com/English/EssayReportCompositionWriting/Forum9.htm"><b>Essay, Report and Composition Writing Forum</b></a>.</font>enXMOD (Build: 3616.28671)http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#620568Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:620568CalifJim0http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#620568http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-620568.xmlYou got it -- except the not is an adverb, which you could think of as belonging to the verb is , so it&#39;s a toss up whether you want to include it as part of the adjective phrase. I didn&#39;t in my analysis above, but there are good arguments that it fits in as part of the adjective phrase. Only &quot;as he and Sam think&quot; is the compar a tive clause. Otherwise, your recap is correct. CJhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619938Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619938Eddie881http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619938http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619938.xmlAnd here I am thinking I knew most of teh subordinate clauses. I&#39;ll have a read about these comparitive clauses. I thought I struggled with this for a reason. So &#39;not as amazing as he and Sam think&#39; is a subject complement, and is also an adjective phrase, as its function, and a comparitive clause as its form. Hope I have it right. Thanks, CJ.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619910Tue, 26 May 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619910CalifJim2http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619910http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619910.xmlRoss&#39; musical talents are not as amazing as he and Sam think. In the original sentence (above) you have a fairly complex adjective phrase which contains a comparative clause. You have here a comparison of degree. Ross&#39; musical talents - subject are - linking verb not - adverb as amazing as he and Sam think - subject complement - adjective phrase in the form of a comparative structure as amazing as he and Sam think : as ... as - the framework of the comparative structure (adverbs of degree) amazing - the adjective highlighted in the comparison - head of the adjective phrase he and Sam think - the comparative clause he, Sam - subjects and - the coordinating conjunction to join the subjects think - the verb of the comparative...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619794Tue, 26 May 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619794Eddie883http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619794http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619794.xmlI am aware that the complementizer is a par of the noun clause; I shouldn&#39;t have used the word AND, sorry. And I just rearranged it because I struggled to identify the clauses in the original sentence. I can&#39;t seem to identify the clauses this way. It looks as though &#39;Ross&#39; musical talents&#39; is the noun clause &#39;are&#39;=verb and the rest is the complement. But there is another clause within the complement...That is why I got confused, so I rearranged it to make it a that clause. I struggle to see the two clauses as they are in the original sentence! So if changing the sentence around changes the meaning, then what are the two clauses in the sentence written as it first was?http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619737Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619737CalifJim4http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/2/hhrzg/Post.htm#619737http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619737.xmlRoss&#39; musical talents are not as amazing as he and Sam think. There are two finite verbs; therefore, there are two clauses. Yes. are and think . I thought of rearranging it: He and Sam think that Ross&#39; musical talents are not amazing. (He, by the way is Ross.) Would re-arranging the sentence like this be correct even though I have omitted the as... as (idiom)? You can rearrange a sentence any way you like, but that doesn&#39;t guarantee it means the same thing as it did before you rearranged it! This rearrangement doesn&#39;t mean the same thing as the original. I fail to see what you were attempting to accomplish by rearranging it. _______ Nevertheless, taking the new sentence: He and Sam think=main clause Yes....http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619722Tue, 26 May 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619722CalifJim5http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619722http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619722.xmlmy confusion about why it wasn&#39;t a particple when it was actually part tense of want, I suppose one can diffentiate between it being the main verb and a participle by whether it describes a noun or not; if it describes a noun, it must be a participle and not the main verb. Would this be a correct way? No. It&#39;s got nothing to do with nouns. Just line up all your verbs of the main clause in a chain, excluding intervening adverbs. Start at the first verb; end at the last verb in the chain. The chain begins after the last non-verb. The chain ends with the first non-verb. Note how non-verbs cut off the chain, except for intervening adverbs. The task was quickly done by Pau l. &gt; task was done by &gt; was done Karen has been going...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619696Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619696Eddie886http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619696http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619696.xmlOh, thanks, you wrote this reply at the same time I wrote the other one. In regards to my confusion about why it wasn&#39;t a particple when it was actually part tense of want, I suppose one can diffentiate between it being the main verb and a participle by whether it describes a noun or not; if it describes a noun, it must be a participle and not the main verb. Would this be a correct way? -- I&#39;m so sorry! Last question, I promise. I want to know if I have analysed this sentence correctly. Ross&#39; musical talents are not as amazing as he and Sam think. There are two finite verbs; therefore, there are two clauses. I thought of rearranging it: He and Sam think that Ross&#39; musical talents are not amazing. (He, by the way is...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619635Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619635CalifJim7http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619635http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619635.xml1) Is this correct? Yes. What you wrote above is correct. ------------------- 2) And in the case of the last sentence, &#39;I want to tell him to leave,&#39; is the main verb &#39;wanted&#39; a past participle? If so, should it not be functioning as an adjective and not the main verb? wanted is the main verb. There is nothing else there that can be a main verb. So it&#39;s not a past participle. If it were supported by another finite verb, for example, if it were have wanted , then wanted would be a past participle. But standing alone it is not a past participle. It is the past tense of want . 3) And secondly, how do you know in this case that &#39;to tell&#39; is the object AND NOT a part of the verb phrase, &#39;wanted to...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619548Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619548Eddie888http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619548http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619548.xmlThanks, CJ, Phillip and Cool Breeze! -- So, if the verbal, present participle, frustrating, has auxiliaries preceding it, and has an object, then it becomes a part of the verb phrase. Also, if it has an object, then it is a part of the verb phrase, and is thus a verb; however, if it were not to have an object, then it serves as a complement. Living in the shadow of Victoria has been frustrating- In this sentence, frustrating acts as a verbal, and more specifically as a present participle/predicate adjective Living in the shadow of Victoria has been frustrating me - Because of the direct obect, frustrating is now a part of the verb chain: &#39;has been frustrating. 1) Is this correct? ------------------- 2) And in the case of the...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619388Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619388CalifJim9http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619388http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619388.xmlA verbal is a non-finite form of a verb. frustrating is thus a verbal. All -ing forms of verbs are non-finite forms, and thus verbals. When the -ing form functions as a noun, we call it a gerund. Swimming is good for your health. When the -ing form functions as an adjective (or predicate adjective), we call it a (present) participle. Champagne is also called sparkling wine. Hilda&#39;s story about the rabbit was amusing. When the -ing form occurs as a verb (supported by a previously occurring finite verb), we can still call it a (present) participle, though it is not adjectival in this context. Lucy has been waiting for hours. -ing forms also sometimes occur as the verbal element of a subordinate non-finite adverbial clause. Again,...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619376Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619376CalifJim10http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619376http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619376.xmlLiving there is frustrating. living there - subject - gerund -noun plus adverb is - linking verb frustrating - subject complement / predicate adjective / present participle frustrating is adjectival because you can add &quot;very&quot; -- an adverb of degree that can be used to modify adjectives. Living there is very frustrating. If frustrating were part of a verb phrase, you&#39;d need an object. Living there is frustrating . Here&#39;s another: This problem has been frustrating the manager for days. Here the word frustrating expresses actively doing something to the object, not just describing how it is to live there (not just describing what the problem is like, in the second example). You can&#39;t have, for example, *Living...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619307Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619307Cool Breeze11http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619307http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619307.xmlLiving in the shadow of Victoria had been frustrating. 1)Is frustrating a gerund or present participle? It seems to describe the subject (particple), but it also takes the place of a gerund; that is, the complement. 2)Is frustrating a verb now instead of a verbal (complement) because of the auxiliary verbs? So what function does it perform? Complemet, object, verb, etc? Grammatical terminology varies fromcountry to country but I think it rather odd if anyone wereto consider frustrating a gerund in your sentence. As I see it, it&#39;s a present participle used as an adjective, or used adjectivally. ( What had living been like ? It had been frustrating . Cf. It had been dull .) Frustrating is a complement. A participle can function...http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619244Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619244Philip12http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htm#619244http://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619244.xml3. &#39;To tell&#39; is not part of the main verb of the sentence. That entire part of the sentence is the direct object of the verb &#39;wanted&#39;. 1 &amp; 2. I&#39;ll leave them for the more competent to answer.http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htmTue, 26 May 2009 20:30:59 GMT946f00bb-57d3-4b7b-a9a2-059b5341af52:619129Eddie8813http://www.englishforums.com/English/PleaseQuickQuestionVerbs/hhrzg/post.htmhttp://www.englishforums.com/English/comments12-619129.xmlIt had been frustrating living in the shadow of Victoria. If I invert the sentence to omit the dummy &#39;it&#39;, it appears like this: Living in the shadow of Victoria had been frustrating. Three questions arise from this: 1)Is frustrating a gerund or present participle? It seems to describe the subject (particple), but it also takes the place of a gerund; that is, the complement. 2)Is frustrating a verb now instead of a verbal (complement) because of the auxiliary verbs? So what function does it perform? Complemet, object, verb, etc? 3) I wanted to tell him to leave- Does the infinitive &#39;to tell&#39; become a part of the verb in this sentence? Why/why not? Thanks a lot!