0
Laborious Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
identifying gerunds
Hi teachers,
Would you kindly tell me if the underlined parts, in the following paragraphs or sentences, are gerunds. If they are not gerunds, please tell me what they are.
- "Despite the panic that ensued, Modi -- arriving minutes after the last blast -- went on to address a more than well-attended rally."
- "Four persons have been detained for questioning; one was apparently caught by the public and handed over to the police."
(I read on the pages of some sites that 'a gerund can be the object of a preposition' as in 'He was arrested for stealing money'. So, is it (questioning) a gerund in the quoted sentence above? And is it being used as the object of the preposition 'for'?)
- "A bomb squad member was also seriously wounded while trying to defuse two more bombs found there." (Is the underlined word a gerund here?)
- "Two hours later, bombs went off in and around Gandhi Maidan -- near a movie theater, a hotel, a children's park and a bank -- sending plumes of smoke in the air and people scurrying around in panic."
- "Police managed to prevent a stampede and BJP leaders also helped maintained calm by announcing that the blasts were burst tyres or crackers going off."
(Here again, the word 'announcing' is following the preposition 'by'. So, is it a gerund?)
- "We detected four more bombs. Defusing them was a problem as they were all fitted with timers."
(I also read that we can use a gerund as the subject of a clause or sentence. Here, the 'Defusing' is the being used as the subject, isn't it, teachers?)
Would you kindly tell me if the underlined parts, in the following paragraphs or sentences, are gerunds. If they are not gerunds, please tell me what they are.
- "Despite the panic that ensued, Modi -- arriving minutes after the last blast -- went on to address a more than well-attended rally."
- "Four persons have been detained for questioning; one was apparently caught by the public and handed over to the police."
(I read on the pages of some sites that 'a gerund can be the object of a preposition' as in 'He was arrested for stealing money'. So, is it (questioning) a gerund in the quoted sentence above? And is it being used as the object of the preposition 'for'?)
- "A bomb squad member was also seriously wounded while trying to defuse two more bombs found there." (Is the underlined word a gerund here?)
- "Two hours later, bombs went off in and around Gandhi Maidan -- near a movie theater, a hotel, a children's park and a bank -- sending plumes of smoke in the air and people scurrying around in panic."
- "Police managed to prevent a stampede and BJP leaders also helped maintained calm by announcing that the blasts were burst tyres or crackers going off."
(Here again, the word 'announcing' is following the preposition 'by'. So, is it a gerund?)
- "We detected four more bombs. Defusing them was a problem as they were all fitted with timers."
(I also read that we can use a gerund as the subject of a clause or sentence. Here, the 'Defusing' is the being used as the subject, isn't it, teachers?)
Top answer
First of all, I'd like to say that grammarians disagree to some extent whether some ing forms are gerunds or participles. Also, grammatical terminology varies somewhat from country to country. I'll give you what Scandinavian grammarians usually think of your examples.
- First of all, I'd like to say that grammarians disagree to some extent whether some ing forms are gerunds or participles.
- Also, grammatical terminology varies somewhat from country to country.
- I'll give you what Scandinavian grammarians usually think of your examples.
- " Arriving is a present participle used as a relative clause equivalent: who arrived.
- I have seen this called a reduced clause in some American grammar books.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
4 Answers
0
First of all, I'd like to say that grammarians disagree to some extent whether some ing forms are gerunds or participles. Also, grammatical terminology varies somewhat from country to country. I'll give you what Scandinavian grammarians usually think of your examples.
Laborious- "Despite the panic that ensued, Modi -- arriving minutes after the last blast -- went on
00
Firstly, feeling highly thankful to you for your help.
So, not all verbs, ending in '-ing', are gerunds. Right CB? But, by looking at a sentence, how can we recognize whether an '-ing' form is being used as a 'gerund' or it's being used as a 'present participle'?
Also, in your replies, you mentioned the terms 'reduced clause' and 'relative clause'. Could you please tell me a li
So, not all verbs, ending in '-ing', are gerunds. Right CB? But, by looking at a sentence, how can we recognize whether an '-ing' form is being used as a 'gerund' or it's being used as a 'present participle'?
Also, in your replies, you mentioned the terms 'reduced clause' and 'relative clause'. Could you please tell me a li
00
Laborious "Despite the panic that ensued, Modi -- arriving minutes after the last blast -- went on to address a more than well-attended rally."This is my opinions and my suggestions:
Arriving - is a present participle used in the adverbial phrase: arriving minutes after the last blast
00
LaboriousCould you please tell me a little bit more about them (reduced clause and relative clause)? as I don't yet know what they actually are.You can find information about relative clauses by typing "relative clause" in the search box of EF or any search engine. The topic is far too broad to be discussed here in detail.
CB
0
Related Questions