Is this sentence grammatically correct? Being an intelligent girl she tried to argue with him or should it be: Been an intelligent girl she tried to argue with him and what is the difference? Answer A sentence of the form VERB participle (+ complements), SUBJECT + PREDICATE. implies an underlying clause of the form Because … Read more
I found the following sentence in one of our questions: Use of "having" in English, The customer having left, the criminal takes out a pin from his purse and scrapes off hardened glue from the edges of the keys. It gave me a grammar warning immediately. After thinking about it for a while, I concluded … Read more
I’ve just read another question, “more than pack” or “more than packing”, and it made me curious. The reason of my curiosity is that even though I prefer the phrase “… finds sugar does more than just pack on the pounds.”, the other alternative “… finds sugar does more than just packing on the pounds.” … Read more
From NPR News: North Korea Opens Marathon To All Runners, Lately we’ve heard about the wonders of basketball diplomacy. Running could be the next thing for North Korea. The Pyongyang Marathon celebrates the birth of the fearless leader who founded the country. For nearly three decades it’s been for elite athletes only. Now North Korea’s … Read more
I am not sure we can combine sentences by using many participle phrases in one sentence. I was sitting on the bridge. The bridge was built over the river. The river flowed rapidly. I watch the children. The children were happily playing in the first snow of the season. I tried to combine those sentences … Read more
“My daughter and I––and my dog, Enzo––would very much like to join you for dinner in Maranello, then.” “Your dog is named Enzo? How propitious!” “He is a race car driver at heart,” Denny said, and he smiled at me. I love Denny so much. I know everything about him, and yet he always surprises … Read more
The Vanishing Glass . . . . . . Dudley came waddling toward them as fast as he could. “Out of the way, you,” he said, punching Harry in the ribs. Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one … Read more
While nestled inside that divine sanctuary, words were my window to the world outside my perch in Columbus, Ohio. (Benita Porter, The Power of Words) It seems like while-clause is a participial clause (a dangling participial one). Is it? If so, is the subject ‘I’? Answer Yep. This is a classic dangling participle (past participle … Read more
“I think I’ve got a good idea of what’s been going on,” said Professor McGonagall. “It doesn’t take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I’ve already caught him. I suppose you think it’s funny that … Read more
Ron’s eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone) Is the highlighted part a participial construction? – its semantic subject is Ron’s eyes; the subject of to-infinitive is Chocolate Frogs and omitted because we know that. Or is it just modifying the previous noun – … Read more
