A progressive form or an -ing form?

Question

She is standing outside the door knocking.

What is the 'knocking' part of the sentence? And what is the function?

Could it be argued that the knocking leads back to 'she is standing' and is therefore also a progressive form? Or is it a reduced relative clause? I mean, can it even be that? I'm confused...

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

It is a reduced clause; I am not sure whether it is a relative clause or an adverbial one.

LotteHansen · Answer

Mister MicawberIt is a reduced clause; I am not sure whether it is a relative clause or an adverbial one.

Thank you. I think you are right that it is an adverbial clause. Can someone explain why?

(I am the original poster. I was just too stupid to make a profile before I posted my question.)

BillJ · Answer

LotteHansenThank you. I think you are right that it is an adverbial clause. Can someone explain why?(I am the original poster. I was just too stupid to make a profile before I posted my question.)

"Knocking" is a subjectless non-finite clause functioning as a 'supplement', a type of adjunct supplying supplementary information. It directly relates to the subject of the matrix clause 'She' (called the 'anchor'), rather than acting as a modifier of the verb "standing". As is typical of supplements, it is outside clause structure, a separate and omissible entailment.

By the way, it would be better to insert a comma between "door" and "knocking".

BillJ

LotteHansen · Answer

Thank you for clearing that up.

I have another question in the progressive/non-progressive department.

Would you say that it is possible to write:

She is just outside / She is on the other side of the door

and get the same meaning (temporary activity, happening right now) as the one you get from:

She is standing outside the door

Also, is there a difference in meaning/appropriateness between the following:

She is just outside / She is on the other side of the door
and
She stands just outside / She stands on the other side of the door

I feel that there is a difference in meaning between the verbs "is" and "stand", but I cannot point out what it is. The way I see it, "is" has some sort of progressive meaning to it here, even though it is a state verb. Could it be because the progressive is implied in the "is"-sentences? Any thoughts?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Would you say that it is possible to write She is just outside / She is on the other side of the door and get the same meaning (temporary activity, happening right now) as the one you get from She is standing outside the door. - It is indeed happening right now, but that is not necessarily the extent of the action: The Sphinx is just outside / It is on the other side of the pyramid.

Also, is there a difference in meaning/appropriateness between the following: She is just outside / She is on the other side of the door and She stands just outside / She stands on the other side of the door?-- 'Stands' here definitely indicates either a permanent or an habitual action.

I feel that there is a difference in meaning between the verbs "is" and "stand", but I cannot point out what it is. The way I see it, "is" has some sort of progressive meaning to it here, even though it is a state verb. Could it be because the progressive is implied in the "is"-sentences? Any thoughts?- It is only because it is the copula, I think.

LotteHansen · Answer

Thank you for your answer Mister Macawber!

Any other thoughts on my questions above? I would like to hear some more opinions.

And I have one more question. Is it more idiomatic English to write

She is on the other side of the door

than

She is standing on the other side of the door

I'm trying to find a plausible explanation why someone would choose one over the other when the sentence needs to convey progressive meaning. Could it be argued that the progressive meaning is intended in the first sentence, but that the progressive form has been left out in order to make it sound more natural?

Mister Micawber · Answer

She is on the other side of the door.
She is standing on the other side of the door.

Both are common, both are natural; a native speaker might choose either without thinking about it.

I'm trying to find a plausible explanation why someone would choose one over the other when the sentence needs to convey progressive meaning. -- It does not need to convey progressive; it merely conveys the current situation. 'Stand' takes present progressive for 'now', but 'be' takes simple present.

Could it be argued that the progressive meaning is intended in the first sentence, but that the progressive form has been left out in order to make it sound more natural?-- No. See my comment immediately above.

A progressive form or an -ing form?

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