A prepositional phrase in a participial phrase

Question

- A. ?I don't understand my sister trying to make big money in the stock market despite knowing that it's not that easy.

Q1) The main point of my question is that I'm not sure whether it's possible to use a prepositinal phrase including "despite" in a participial phrase like in the sentence above.

- The participial phrase = "trying to make....that easy".

- The prepositinal phrase = "despite knowing that it's not that easy"

Q2) Does the participial phrase modify "my sister"? I think it does.

Q3) Who knows that it's not that easy? I or my sister. I think it's my sister.

Q4) Is the sentence grammatical and natural? I think it is.

-B. I understand him trying to go to the university although he knows he isn't so smart as to make it.

Then maybe can a conjunction part including "although" be used like in A, belonging to a participial phrase as well?

- The conjunction part = "although he knows he isn't so smart as to make it"

- The participial phrase = "trying to...make it", which modifies "him"

BillJ · Accepted Answer

?

fire1Q1) The main point of my question is that I'm not sure whether it's possible to use a prepositinal phrase including "despite" in a participial phrase like in the sentence above. - The participial phrase = "trying to make....that easy".- The prepositinal phrase = "despite knowing that it's not that easy"

Yes, it is. The PP functions as a concessive adjunct in clause structure.

fire1Q2) Does the participial phrase modify "my sister"? I think it does.

No: the bracketed element is not a noun phrase in which the participial clause modifies "my sister", but a non-finite clause with "my sister" as subject.

"Understand" is a catenative verb and the subordinate non-finite clause is its catenative complement.

fire1Q3) Who knows that it's not that easy? I or my sister. I think it's my sister.

The salient interpretation is that "my sister" is the subject of the subordinate clause. It wouldn't make much sense if it was intended to be "I". However, the addition of the subject "her" would resolve any possible ambiguity: "despite her knowing that it's not that easy".

fire1Q4) Is the sentence grammatical and natural? I think it is.

Yes.

fire1B. I understand him trying to go to the university although he knows he isn't so smart as to make it.Then maybe can a conjunction part including "although" be used like in A, belonging to a participial phrase as well? The conjunction part = "although he knows he isn't so smart as to make it"- The participial phrase = "trying to...make it", which modifies "him"

Yes, a concessive adjunct can be embedded within the participial clause, as it is in your first example. Note, though, that "although" is like "despite" – a preposition.

The participial clause is the whole of him trying to go to the university although he knows he isn't so smart as to make it, functioning as complement of "understand"

A prepositional phrase in a participial phrase

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