Search results for 'tag:Weddings tag:Prepositions' matching tags 'Weddings' and 'Prepositions'

Sentence combining using dependent(relative) clause

Raen — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:14:09 GMT

Here is a practice:

Q: A minute passed in complete silence. Terri announced her wedding plans then.

I wrote: A minute passed in complete silence when Terri announced her wedding plans.

A: A minute when Terri announced her wedding plans passed in complete silence.

Grammar rules say: The adjective clause is used to modify a noun or a pronoun. It will begin with a relative pronoun (who, whose, whom, which, and that) or a subordinate conjunction (when and where). Those are the only words that can be used to introduce an adjective clause. The introductory word will always rename the word that it follows and modifies except when used with a preposition which will come between the introductory word and the word it renames.

It seems to me the official answer is a strict product of the rules and does not sound natural to me. If "when Terri announced her wedding plans" is to highlight/modify "minute" (as the grammar rule indicates), shouldn't the article "A" be a definite "The" specifying the time in a period of ONE MINUTE when the wedding plans were announced?

I just thought the length of time (a minute) was more of a figurative speech when the silence occured as a result of Terri's announcing her wedding plans not the precise minute that it took to announce her wedding plans. Any thoughts? Thanks a lot.

Raen

ASK FOR

natybrazil — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:42:28 GMT

Hi!

I just want to make sure that the use of the preposition FOR is right. Is is possible to drop it in the second sentence?

All I'm asking you for is to give me the wedding date.
The wedding date is what I'm asking you for.

Thanks in advance.

Re: at or during

Yankee — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 12:06:06 GMT

In combination with 'the wedding', the preposition 'at' basically refers to location (where), and the word 'during' refers to time (when).

at or during

Kins_10 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:53:17 GMT

I heard people say 'At the wedding, ...' and other say 'During the wedding,...' So, is there any difference between these two prepositions?

Re: verbs, nouns....-2

Grammar Geek — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:05:40 GMT

Plan is a verb as well as a noun. I am planning my wedding. She always plans her vacations very carefully. Her vacation plans are very details.

Solomon, if you don't mind some advice - don't worry about what part of speech something is. It won't help you talk better or form more natural sentences. Does it matter whether as is a preposition or a conjunction as long as you use it correctly?

Re: gerund or verbal noun

CalifJim — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:25:23 GMT

All of your examples are gerunds if we stick to modern terminology.

Forget about the terminology verbal noun. It's total garbage!

It has many different definitions, depending on the author and when the grammar book was written.
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The modern definition is given at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbal_noun

A verbal noun is a noun formed directly as an inflexion of a verb or a verb stem, sharing at least in part its constructions. This term is applied especially to gerunds, and sometimes also to [bare] infinitives and supines [i.e., full infinitives].

That is, there are three types of verbal noun: gerunds, bare infinitives, and full infinitives.

So anything that is a gerund is also a verbal noun, because a gerund is one of the types of verbal nouns.
____________

The modern definition is echoed at

http://www.ielanguages.com/english.html

Gerunds: [Like participles,] Gerunds are also formed by adding -ing to the verb, but they function as a verbal noun [as opposed to the participle, which is a verbal adjective] and are normally preceded by articles or demonstratives. The singing was excellent.
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A completely different definition is found here:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-VERBALNOUN.html

VERBAL NOUN. A category of noncountable abstract noun derived from a verb, in English by adding the suffix -ing. Like the verb from which it derives, it refers to an action or state: writing in The writing has taken too long; hearing in His hearing is defective. Verbal nouns are frequently combined with the preposition of and a noun phrase that corresponds to the subject or object in a clause: The grumbling of his neighbours met with no response (compare His neighbours grumbled); His acting of Hamlet won our admiration (compare He acted Hamlet). Verbal nouns contrast with deverbal nouns, that is, other kinds of nouns derived from verbs, such as attempt, destruction, and including nouns ending in -ing that do not have verbal force: building in The building was empty. They also contrast with the gerund, which also ends in -ing, but is syntactically a verb.

Note the last (underlined) sentence. By this definition only usages like The neighbors were acting like fools are considered gerunds -- not all the other examples that preceded -- examples that we would all agree are gerunds in current terminology.
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The next definition is more than 100 years old, and I've seen it quoted on this site. Note that it is classified (see the URL) under "Classic Literature". It is useful only as a historic document -- not as a guide to modern English and modern syntactic analysis.

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wmbaskervill/bl-wmbaskervill-grammar-parts-nouns.htm

An English Grammar

1896

by W. M. Baskervill & J. W. Sewell

273. It [the gerund] differs from the participle in being always used as a noun: it never belongs to or limits a noun.

It differs from the verbal noun in having the property of governing a noun (which the verbal noun has not) and of expressing action (the verbal noun merely names an action, Sec. II).

[Sec. II. is actually Sec. 11, where nouns are discussed. The discussion of verbal nouns is within a category called Abstract Nouns, so in Section 11 verbal nouns are called by their more specific name: Verbal Abstract Nouns.]

II. The VERBAL ABSTRACT NOUNS Originate in verbs, as their name implies. They may beâ

(1) Of the same form as the simple verb. The verb, by altering its function, is used as a noun; as in the expressions, "a long run" "a bold move," "a brisk walk "
[These are called deverbal nouns in modern terminology -- or 'zero-related nominals' or just 'nouns'.]

(2) Derived from verbs by changing the ending or adding a suffix: motion from move, speech from speak, theft from thieve, action from act, service from serve.
[These,too, are called deverbal nouns nowadays -- or just 'nouns'.]

(3) Derived from verbs by adding -ing to the simple verb. It must be remembered that these words are free from any verbal function They cannot govern a word, and they cannot express action, but are merely names of actions. They are only the husks of verbs, and are to be rigidly distinguished from gerunds (Secs. 272, 273). [These are nouns that end in -ing. They have acquired fixed meanings as nouns, referring to something more concrete than the action of the underlying verb.]

To avoid difficulty, study carefully these examples:

The best thoughts and sayings of the Greeks; the moon caused fearful forebodings; in the beginning of his life; he spread his blessings over the land; the great Puritan awakening; our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; a wedding or a festival; the rude drawings of the book; masterpieces of the Socratic reasoning; the teachings of the High Spirit; those opinions and feelings; there is time for such reasonings; the well-being of her subjects; her longing for their favor; feelings which their original meaning will by no means justify; the main bearings of this matter.
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It is debatable whether anything whatsoever is to be gained in the study of modern English by resurrecting these older definitions.

CJ

Re: Please take a look at my sentences!

Clive — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:22:16 GMT

Hi,

Please, take a look at my sentences and check if they are right:

I've made some corrections.

1) When I'm at home I usually sit around.

2) In the business world, some actions are taken based on 'on the spot' decisions.

3) As he didn't have money to buy a new suit, he wound up going to the wedding in the old one.

In the following sentence what's the grammar explanation for the absence of preposition:

" I thought you were( - no preposition here) downtown".

'Downtown' is a special term that is used idiomatically in this way with no preposition.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Preposition?

Grammar Geek — Thu, 10 May 2007 02:28:13 GMT

We are going to a family wedding would be my choice. You can use "marriage ceremony" if you prefer. The preposition to use is "to."

Re: Can I say: When you arrive to the wedding reception?

Goodman — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 22:03:12 GMT

Careta wrote:
Can I say: What do you do when you arrive to the wedding reception? I know that the preposition at is the best option but can I use the preposition to at all?

Hi Careta,

The use of preposition in conjunction with the verb âarriveâ has been discussed numerous times here. In the context of wedding, I believed âtoâ is not the correct choice.

When we talk about getting to a place, you can say âWhen you get to the wedding receptionâ, or when you arrive at the wedding receptionâ¦â

In other context, we can say: arrive in time to witness the ceremony, he arrived at the airport on time, or he arrived on time at the airport.

Hope my two-cent worth helpsâ¦

Can I say: When you arrive to the wedding reception?

Careta — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 21:46:03 GMT

Can I say: What do you do when you arrive to the wedding reception? I know that the preposition at is the best option but can I use the preposition to at all?