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Listenever Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

As the new year opened vs. As the new year opening

As the new year opened, Tony Blair faced the greatest crisis he had yet known in what were then the nearly seven years he had been Prime Minister, or as leader of the Labour Party.

Is it possible to rewrite the as-clause as follows?
As the new year opening, Tony Blair faced...

Grammatically, I don't see why it's not possible to use the participle form 'opening' as above. I'd like to know if it sounds any awkward or unnatural to a native speaker's ears.

Thanks in advance.
  

Top answer

As the new year opening, Tony Blair faced... No, it's not grammatical. " would be grammatical, but it doesn't work very well in this sentence.

— GPY

  • As the new year opening, Tony Blair faced...
  • No, it's not grammatical.
  • " would be grammatical, but it doesn't work very well in this sentence.
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3 Answers
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listeneverIs it possible to rewrite the as-clause as follows?As the new year opening, Tony Blair faced...
No, it's not grammatical.

"As the new year was opening ..." would be grammatical, but it doesn't work very well in this sentence.
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Thank you.

How about this?

The new year opening, Tony Blair said...

Is it not grammatical either?
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listeneverThe new year opening, Tony Blair said...Is it not grammatical either?
This is grammatical in theory, but in practice it does not work well.
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