In Gerunds^x, Clauses^x

Hi MrP and paco. Thank you for all your comments. I have truly enjoyed them. Fresh lights have now been added reinforcing my understanding of dangling modification. Please allow me to sum up what we have so far discussed. 1. "after -ing" is governed by the dangling modification rule. That is,...

Hello Komountain, hello Paco I'm sorry, I was a little unclear: I intended the 'reversing clauses' method to be taken simply as a trial by ear. So in sentence 1, for instance, reversing the clauses accentuates the absurdity of the sense. Gerunds and participles are indeed slightly...

Hello Komountain 1) "After eating lunch, my bike was fixed." - you're correct: this sentence is wrong, and suggests that the bike had eaten lunch, which only happens in Polish cartoons. (2) "After eating lunch, I fixed my bike." - you're right: 'eating' relates to 'I'. (3) "By inserting the...

If you SAY that you DID NOT do something, it the same as if you DENY that you DID do it. He said, "I didn't steal anything". Using the reported speech formula, where we change from direct quotation to indirect: He said that he hadn't stolen anything. Now if he said that he hadn't, then he...

Infinitives enjoy less popularity as subjects than do gerunds, because the gerund (like its '-ing' congeners) emphasizes the process, where the infinitive only suggest the potentiality. As a result, the infinitive as noun often sounds awkward, as here. (Of course, some of it may have to do with...

1. Noun or noun phrase - yes: 'I ate a (big ham) sandwich.' 2. Pronoun - yes: 'I erased him.' 3. Prepositional phrase - no, not really: in 'I looked at his girlfriend', '(his) girlfriend' is considered the direct object, with the particular verb requiring the preposition (a phrasal verb). A...

Hello, Pastel. I'll try to answer your questions; let me know if you need clarification? Your first question: A: "Has he gained weight?" B: "He would gain weight, but he _____ much." (1)doesn't eat (2)didn't eat Without a context, with the short exchange as it is, the right answer is 1). B...

Dave, I can understand the fact that you find this book you've discovered fascinating. It is difficult for me, though, to discuss grammar and/or linguistics in depth with you. In my opinion, it is one thing to favour a certain approach to a topic after you have considered several different...

Miriam, Many thanks for your thoughtful expansion of Pem's analysis. I'll first address the specific questions you've raised, then re-state more thoroughly the case which the Cambridge book is making for the gerund's redefinition. Consider the following two sentences: 1. I can't stand your...

Dave, First of all, and even when everyone is surely aware of this, I must insist that even when I believe my knowledge of the English grammar is good, I'm not a grammarian or a linguist. It would be completely absurd for me to try and analyse a language that is not even my own in depth when I...