Grammer Confusing

Question

HiI have one sentence "ABC is the organization whose aim is improving children's health." 1. Is it Continuous tense?2. Is it present simple tense?Thanks

Ivanhr · Accepted Answer

"Is" is a linking verb (simple present ) and "improving" is a gerund in your sentence so #2 is correct.

BillJ · Answer

SovannmonyHi
I have one sentence "ABC is the organization whose aim is improving children's health."
1. Is it Continuous tense?
2. Is it present simple tense?

No, it's not continuous. "Is improving" may appear to be a continuous form with "is" an auxiliary verb and "improving" the main verb, but that's not actually the case here. The copular (or linking) verb "is" is simple present tense and the expression that follows it is called a predicative complement, in this case the subordinate clause "improving children's health", whose role in this instance is to specify the meaning of the noun "aim", i.e. "aim" = "improving children's health".

Subordinate clauses like this are sometimes called "gerund clauses" because their function is like that of a noun (cf. 'an organisation whose aim is 'innovation'/'improvement'/'control' - all nouns). But note that the word "improving" in your example is not itself a noun, but a verb. It's the entire subordinate clause that is noun-like, hence the term gerund clause.

BillJ

Grammer Confusing

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