Leave + Object + Present Participle
The project failed and my boss left me holding the bag. He simply disappeared.
I can interpret the sentence semantically, failing to parse it syntactically. Is 'holding the bag' just an additional phrase modifying me? Or is it an objective complement?
Top answer
The project failed and my boss left me holding the bag . He simply disappeared. It's neither.
- The project failed and my boss left me holding the bag .
- He simply disappeared.
- It's neither.
- This is called a complex catenative construction.
- " Leave" is a catenative verb and "holding the bag" is a gerund-participial clause functioning as complement of "left".
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The project failed and my boss left me holding the bag. He simply disappeared.
It's neither.
This is called a complex catenative construction.
"Leave" is a catenative verb and "holding the bag" is a gerund-participial clause functioning as complement of "left". The intervening NP "me" is object of "left".
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