I’m bothered by the use of “gathering” in the following sentence:
“The initiative was originated at a regional-level meeting in Phuket in July last year, gathering telecom regulators from the 10 Asean countries.”
(Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1202657/tourist-sim-tracking-plan-axed)
If it were up to me I would rewrite the sentence as follows:
The initiative was brought up at a gathering of telecom regulators from the 10 Asean countries.
Telecom regulators from the 10 Asean countries gathered in Phuket last year to hammer out the proposal.
or getting rid of “gather” altogether:
- The initiative was originated at a regional-level meeting in Phuket attended by telecom regulators from the 10 Asean countries.
I can’t explain why, but the use of “gathering” in the original sentence doesn’t seem right. Am I wrong?
Answer
I think it’s grammatically correct, but it’s not a very pretty or well-formed sentence.
“gathering telecom regulators” is a participial phrase, describing something about the subject (which is the initiative), so it’s saying that the initiative was gathering telecom regulators.
I think it sounds strange because the main clause is in the passive voice, and it’s odd to say that the initiative gathered regulators, especially when the initiative was itself the subject of the passive voice, meaning that something else was originating the initiative. Any of your versions actually sound a little better to me.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Chav Likit , Answer Author : stangdon