Search results for 'tag:Verbs tag:Constructions' matching tags 'Verbs' and 'Constructions'

Re: account for

26TMNTJG2PG — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:38:10 GMT

Taka
I've found this example:

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

Isn't this the same as:

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they have brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

?

These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment.

bringing out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists - This participial phrase is a nominative absolute phrase preceded by a 'they' which is understood with its non-finite verb 'bringing' having the finite equivalent 'bring'. The comma there has the function of joining two independent clauses and if you invoke such function, the new sentence will be "These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they bring out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

The finite verb 'have brought' has its non-finite equivalent as 'having brought'. On the same basis, the construction with a nominative absolute phrase for the sentence below

"These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, and they have brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

should be

"These cartoon characters have caught the eyes of scholars, having brought out a wave of best-selling studies by academics and scientists who say the comics are more than just escapist entertainment."

HAND HTH

Re: "If I were" in past

MrPedantic — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:56:39 GMT

I think the difference is that "be" is a main verb, in the original example; but in the "duelling" example, it is part of a compound passive construction.

(Also, in the original, you wouldn't say "If I were to be stronger,...". So there's no reason to use a present perfect version of the latter for the "past".)

MrP

Re: 'There seems...' 'There seem...'?

CalifJim — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:41:58 GMT

there constructions show agreement between the verb and the noun which follow there.

There [is / was / seems to be / appears to be / has to be / should be / could be / must be] a restaurant on this street.

There [are / were / seem to be / appear to be / have to be / should be / could be / must be] hundreds of restaurants on this street.

Re: Be gone!

Ant_222 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:04:58 GMT

Anonymous
What is the purpose of the verb to be in these constructions?

It makes the phrases imperative:

I want you to behave more politely --
I want you to be more polite --
Be polite!

I want you to not be here --
I want you to be gone --
Be gone!

Also note that "gone" and "seated" are adjectives.

Be gone!

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:14:48 GMT

Go away => Be gone,
Please sit down => please be seated.

What is the purpose of the verb to be in these constructions?

Re: was admitted to

Mr Wordy — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 11:36:41 GMT

(b) is fine.

I'm not keen on (a). It's fairly common to omit second and subsequent instances of "was" in passive sentences. For example "She was bitten by a snake and admitted to hospital". However, if the first item is an adjective (as "sick" in your example) then this style doesn't read so well (to me). I think this is because you get no cue from "was sick" that the construction is a passive one (unlike "was bitten"), so you tend to initially read "admitted" as an active verb before realising that this doesn't work and then having to backtrack.

"... was admitted to/into (the) hospital" are all OK. I would normally use "admitted to". Use "the" only if you're referring to a specific hospital that is identified by the context.

Re: unexpected visitor

New2grammar — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:33:46 GMT

RayH
"Sleepily, as I had almost fallen asleep,..." or
"Sleepily (as I had almost fallen asleep)..."

I don't understand why the adverb is the better choice. I've noticed that native speakers have no problem with the following construction.

Still tired (not tiredly), I walked up the stairs.

Avangi, do you feel the same way?

Use of conditional verb prior to an infinitive clause / object complement

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:17:48 GMT

Hi all,

Thanks in advance for your help in answering this question. I'm trying to explain to a non-native English speaker that a certain usage is either incorrect or awkward, but I find myself unable to do so. At this point, I'm just confusing myself in trying to explain it.

So her construction is:

"I like for you to go to my friend's house in three weeks."

My correction would be:

"I would like for you to go to my friend's house in three weeks."

My reasoning is that including the word "would" allows for a better logical continuity of tenses. I have tried to explain this via continuity of verb tense and the nature of the conditional word "would"-- but I am not a grammarian and my explanations are either imprecise or wholly inaccurate. On that note,

1) Is my correction correct?

2) Is there a rule which either supports or refutes this correction?

Kind regards,
A.S.

Re: to + verb-ing

Mr Wordy — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:09:40 GMT

"I look forward to..." has to be followed by a noun (as in "I look forward to lunch"). The "-ing" form of a verb can handily act as a noun, meaning "the act of doing whatever it is", and so can fit the sentence. The same goes for any sentence where a noun is required after "to" -- such as "I can't get used to being single again", "I admit to eating all the pies", etc.

"I look forward to read your sentence" is wrong because "read" can't act as a noun (at least, not in this sentence).

On the other hand, "I want to..." has to be followed by a verb infinitive. So, "I want to go" is correct, but "I want to going" is wrong. The same goes for any sentence where a verb infinitive is required. For example: "I can't begin to understand it", "He failed to finish the race", etc.

I don't know of any way to tell which constructions are in the first class and which in the second except by learning them individually. But if you know that the sentence will work with another noun -- for example, you know that "I look forward to lunch" is correct -- then that should tell you that the "-ing" form of the verb is required (famous last words...!)

Re: What does this sentence mean?

Tanit — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 22:11:59 GMT

Hi,

Should a delay exist ... = If a delay should exist ... (which means: we consider the existence of a delay very unlikely; however, if this delay existed ...)

It's not a question, but a conditional sentence where subject and verb are inverted and "if" is dropped.
It's a formal / literary construction, possible also without "should":

If I were the President of the USA ... => Were I the President of the USA ...
If I had won the lottery ... => Had I won the lottery ...