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RIP Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
conjugated verbs--is this sentence correct?
Some say this sentence is grammatically incorrect because of conjugated verbs: "Having been in their situation and being able to empathize with their difficulties made my efforts more effective."
I intrepret this as "having been in their situation made my efforts more effective" AND "being able to empathize with their difficulties made my efforts more effective", so disregarding parallel structure, I don't think there is too much of a problem with the above sentence.
Some advice will be really appreciated.
I intrepret this as "having been in their situation made my efforts more effective" AND "being able to empathize with their difficulties made my efforts more effective", so disregarding parallel structure, I don't think there is too much of a problem with the above sentence.
Some advice will be really appreciated.
Top answer
I parsed your sentence as below: [ S (Having been in their situation) and (being able to empathize with their difficulties)] [ VP made my efforts more effective]. , [ S That (I had been in their situation) and (I was able to empathize with their difficulties)] [ VP made my efforts effective]. paco
- I parsed your sentence as below: [ S (Having been in their situation) and (being able to empathize with their difficulties)] [ VP made my efforts more effective].
- , [ S That (I had been in their situation) and (I was able to empathize with their difficulties)] [ VP made my efforts effective].
- paco
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5 Answers
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I parsed your sentence as below:
[S (Having been in their situation) and (being able to empathize with their difficulties)] [VP made my efforts more effective].
i.e.,
[S That (I had been in their situation) and (I was able to empathize with their difficulties)] [VP made my efforts effective].
paco
[S (Having been in their situation) and (being able to empathize with their difficulties)] [VP made my efforts more effective].
i.e.,
[S That (I had been in their situation) and (I was able to empathize with their difficulties)] [VP made my efforts effective].
paco
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Thank you Paco, but I didn't fully understand. Is the original sentence correct or incorrect?? Or does it just have bad structure?
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Hello Anon (RIP?)
The sentence is correct at least grammatically. But I feel the structure is rather uncommon. The use of coordinated long gerundive nouns as a subject is rare in English. I'm inclined to take it as a translation of some inflective language like Russian or Latin. If
Is the original sentence correct or incorrect?? Or does it just have bad structure?
The sentence is correct at least grammatically. But I feel the structure is rather uncommon. The use of coordinated long gerundive nouns as a subject is rare in English. I'm inclined to take it as a translation of some inflective language like Russian or Latin. If
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RIPSome say this sentence is grammatically incorrect because of conjugated verbs: "Having been in their situation and being able to empathize with their difficulties made my efforts more effective."I agree with Paco that the above sentence is grammatically correct.
Whenever I see a long or complex sentence, I try to make it simple by parsing it into
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DanyooI have been in their situation before and I am able to emphasize with their difficulties. Those factors made my efforts more effective.Much much better than mine.
paco
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