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Swagatalakshmi wrote: OK - consulted couple of grammar books. "Participles" (verb+-ing or verb in past participle form) ALWAYS modify nouns. If you see a verb +-ing used as a stand-alone phrase (noun) which is not modifying anything, it must be a gerund. There is nothing called "adverbial...

Alienvoord, I appreciate you're constructive criticism. Allow me to rebute: 1) Comprehensible, yes. But many expressions are comprehensible even without being gramatically sound. The nuances I try to reveal in this post are to help you write better gramatically, not to sound or to write...

Hi again, 1. Animals have a tail. 2. Animals have tails. I'd like to make a few more comments on this. I completely agree with CJ's points. The ambiguities that are built into these few words, because of the nature of the English grammar involved, are extensive. I just didn't choose...

Paco: By the way I have a feeling that English 'now' (in the linguistic sense, not in the physical sense) is not instantaneous, but it seems to occupy some span in the time that flows from the past to the future. Otherwise I cannot understand the usage of the present progressive tense. JTT:...