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Exodejavu Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

"[He] complained that part of the act giving police the right to ..."

I saw in an editorial of the local English newspaper of Taiwan:

[He] complained that part of the act giving police the right to break up demonstrations impeding traffic smacks of authoritarianism, arguing “it's like a law from the martial law era.”
I have two questions.
1. Should "giving" be "gives" or "will give"? If not, the clause seems to lack a verb.
2. Should it be "the police"?
(It gives the police the right to ... )

Best Wishes,
  

Top answer

1. No, I think an article is missing and giving is a participle that is used instead of a relative pronoun and a finite verb : He complained that the part the act which/that gives [the] police the right... The used to be very common with police in contexts like this but is less and less frequently used these days.

— Cool Breeze

  • 1.
  • No, I think an article is missing and giving is a participle that is used instead of a relative pronoun and a finite verb : He complained that the part the act which/that gives [the] police the right...
  • The used to be very common with police in contexts like this but is less and less frequently used these days.
  • CB
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2 Answers
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1. No, I think an article is missing and giving is a participle that is used instead of a relative pronoun and a finite verb: He complained that the part the act which/that
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Please ignore my first question.
I was wrong about my conjecture. The verb is "smack."
Just now, I found that "smack of something" is a phrasal verb.

But still, please shed some light on the second question.

Regards,
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