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Park sang joon Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

An appositive gerund phrase

A sailor had been shipwrecked on a small island for several months with a crew of 12 men and one woman. When he was finally rescued and returned home, an elderly aunt was very interested in the situation of so many men and one woman alone on a deserted island. "About this woman," said the aunt, "was she chaste?"
Replied the sailor, "Oh, yes, Auntie?all over the island!"

I think the words "the situation" are in opposition with the phrase "so many men and one woman alone on a deserted island." and that 'being' is omitted before the word 'alone'; am I right?

Thank you in advance for your help.
  

Top answer

" I wouldn't call this "in a pposition" (I believe that is what you mean) since the word "of" links the two. park sang joon and that 'being' is omitted before the word 'alone'; am I right? "being" can be inserted leaving the meaning more or less the same.

— GPY

  • " I wouldn't call this "in a pposition" (I believe that is what you mean) since the word "of" links the two.
  • park sang joon and that 'being' is omitted before the word 'alone'; am I right?
  • "being" can be inserted leaving the meaning more or less the same.
  • However, the phrase works fine without it.
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10 Answers
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park sang joonI think the words "the situation" are in opposition with the phrase "so many men and one woman alone on a deserted island."
I wouldn't call this "in apposition" (I believe that is what you mean) since the word "of" links the two.
park sang joonand that 'being' is omitted before the word 'alone'; am I right?
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Thank you, GPY, for your valuable answer. Emotion: smile

I wouldn't call this "in apposition" (I believe that is what you m
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park sang joonis this really grammatical?
Yes.
park sang joonI hope this usage is only in spoken English.
"so many men and one woman alone on a deserted island" is correct English in any situation.
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Thank you, GPY, for your continuing supporting. Emotion: smile
I'd like to ask you only one more thing.
Do you think this usage is the lik
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park sang joonDo you think this usage is the like of ellipsis?
No, not really.
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Thank you, GPY, for continuing to answer.

No, not really.
I don't know the usage at all. I said I'd have liked to ask you one more thing, but if you don't mind I want to break my words. Do you think the thread about the structure "the more~ the more"?
What term do you call those phrases only with a subject and a complement?
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park sang joonI don't know why the verb 'be' is always omitted in some texts
As I have said in other threads, psj ,the word 'omitted' suggests that the word was there originally. This is often not the case.
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Thank you, fivejedjon, for your reply and your patience with me. Emotion: smile

so many men and one woman alone on a deserted isla
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park sang joonIs my example a participle phrase?
I have lost count of the number of times you have asked this of a phrase and I have pointed out that a participle phrase must contain a participle.
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I have lost count of the number of times you have asked this of a phrase.
So have I, but otherwise how can we explain the existence of the word 'alone' in my example?
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