Since “at one time” is a time indicator, shouldn’t the gerund “operating” be equivalent, while giving a better flow joining sentences? Or is it more confusing/improper? Preceding text of the same paragraph: While ***** currently serves western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia, the chain also served the Harrisburg, Lancaster, and York, Pennsylvania markets … Read more
Here singing is a noun: I like singing. But what about here? I like singing loudly. Loudly is still an adverb, right? But singing is still behaving like a noun, right? So which is it, a noun or a verb? How can it behave like a noun when it gets modified by an adverb? Answer … Read more
I had a bad experience working there. Is that sentence correct, or must I write: I had a bad experience when working there. I had a bad experience while working there. or even: I had a bad experience while I was working there. I had a bad experience when I worked there. It seems like … Read more
In the following sentence, I did quite well in the examination, without having to burn the midnight oil. What is “having” — a gerund, a participle, or just a present continuous verb? I tried Wren & Martin, but without luck. Answer I did quite well in the examination, without having to burn the midnight oil. … Read more
I was always taught that if you can replace a participle with a pronoun, then you should use the possessive case. So instead of "I saw him eating", because I can substitute "it" and say "I saw it", I should say "I saw his eating." "His eating" is the object here, and it can be … Read more
I came across this sentence while preparing for the IELTS writing exam: There are a number of causes of people not doing physical activities. That causes of should be followed by a noun or gerund. So does people not doing physical activities act as a gerund here? Could somebody please help me understand it grammatically? … Read more
I was wondering which of the following phrases are correct? “without their having to learn” or “without them having to learn”? Any help is highly appreciated. Answer Where a gerund-participle clause is complement to a preposition, both genitive and non-genitive subjects are possible: I have no objections to [their/them taking notes]. She insisted on [my/me … Read more
Watching a game review, I’ve noticed a phrase whose meaning confused me. The reason why I got confused is that the author used a base form of the verb "to explore" in pair with the singular subject "friend". The question is, is it correct to do this? I will write below two more options as … Read more
I and my friend were discussing about which of the followings being correct. "I can’t imagine you using a dictionary" "I can’t imagine your using a dictionary" I think that the latter is correct. My argument is that I consider "using" a gerund, and treat the whole gerund phrase as a noun. What do you … Read more
I know this example sounds awkward, but it’s obviously grammatically incorrect to say “me being here” in sentences like this one: He said me being here was wonderful. That instance of me being should be my being because we need to use being as a gerund phrase so that it can be the subject of … Read more
