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Umino Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Is this participial construction?

Hello! I need help with the sentence below:

1) He was very sick, in what turned out to be the last week of his life.

I think that this is a simple sentence, which I think is along the lines of:

2) He was very sick in the last week of his life.

But someone told me that it is participial construction and can be rephrased as:

3) He was very sick, being in what turned out to be the last week of his life.

and that it originally is:

4) He was very sick, and he was in what turned out to be the last week of his life.

Can someone tell me if this (=sentence #1) is participial construction?

And, if it is a simple sentence, then are there any specific reasons why it has a comma between "sick" and "in"?

Any help will be appreciated... Thank you in advance!
  

Top answer

Umino 1) He was very sick, in what turned out to be the last week of his life. It is a complex sentence. " The main verb in the subordinate clause is simple past tense.

— AlpheccaStars

  • Umino 1) He was very sick, in what turned out to be the last week of his life.
  • It is a complex sentence.
  • " The main verb in the subordinate clause is simple past tense.
  • The comma represents a pause in speaking, for dramatic effect.
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11 Answers
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Umino1) He was very sick, in what turned out to be the last week of his life.
It is a complex sentence.
There is one main clause, and one subordinate clause (what turned out to be the last week of his life.)
The subordinate clause is a noun clause, object (complement) of the preposition "in."
The main verb in the subordinate clause is simple
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Thank you so much for the reply! Emotion: smile

Okay, "what turned out to be the last week of his life" is a subordinate clause, the "wha
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Umino1) He was very sick, in what turned out to be the last week of his life. ... Can someone tell me if this (=sentence #1) is participial construction?
Yes. Someone can. I can. It's not a participial construction. There isn't a single word in it that ends in "ing". How can there be a participial construction in it? Impossible.
Umino
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Hi, CalifJim! Thank you for the response!
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UminoOkay, "what turned out to be the last week of his life" is a subordinate clause,
Yes.
Uminothe "what" being a relative pronoun,
No, it's not relative. There is no antecedent.

See entry #12
http://dictionary.reference.
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what turned out to be the last week of his life

You could possibly make a case for this being a fused relative.
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Aspara Guswhat turned out to be the last week of his lifeYou could possibly make a case for this being a fused relative.
Possibly make a case? Why so tentative? That's exactly what it is, isn't it? What was the alternative that you were thinking of, if I may ask?

CJ
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CalifJim What was the alternative that you were thinking of, if I may ask?
Well, since it’s obviously not an interrogative content clause and I don’t use ‘noun clause’, I wasn’t really thinking of any alternative. I just didn’t like the sound of “[that which / the thing that] turned out to be the last week of his life”, but on second thought the unnaturalness
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Aspara Gusdidn’t like the sound of “[that which / the thing that] turned out to be the last week of his life”
Same here.
Aspara Guson second thought the unnaturalness of that paraphrase is probably trivial
Agree.

CJ
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Thank you for your reply, AlpheccaStars.
I still have a long way to go but I think I am beginning to understand.
I have posted another question, so please post an answer if you have time. Thank you everyone.
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