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Moon7296 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

participial phrase or

I agree that social networking sites have the possibility to change our lives in a positive way by introducing us to new people and ideas. Unfortunately, this rarely actually happens. In reality, these sites discourage young people from going out and meeting their friends face to face. Instead, they end up staying home alone in frong of the computer, wasting their time.

Q) Can "wasting their time" in the last sentence be considered as a participial phrase or it is simply connected to "end up -ing" part? I.e. "they end up staying home ..., (and they end up) wasting their time.
  

Top answer

moon7296 Can "wasting their time" in the last sentence be considered as a participial phrase Yes.

— AlpheccaStars

  • moon7296 Can "wasting their time" in the last sentence be considered as a participial phrase Yes.
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6 Answers
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moon7296Can "wasting their time" in the last sentence be considered as a participial phrase
Yes.
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moon7296or it is simply connected to "end up -ing" part? I.e. "they end up staying home ..., (and they end up) wasting their time.
Yes, the -ing forms are connected to "end up" as complements in the clause in which "they" is a subject and "end up" a linking verb.
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Anonymous "end up" a linking verb.
I don't think so. See the definition.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copula

There is no identity relationship between "they" and "wasting their time."
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AlpheccaStarsThere is no identity relationship between "they" and "wasting their time."
There is a relationship between "they" and the complement "wasting". The complement is an adjective.
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Thank you for answering.

Then which do you think is more exact meaning? (or ambiguity occurs)

1. They end up staying home alone in frong of the computer, (and they end up) wasting their time.
2. They end up staying home alone in frong of the computer, as(or while) they waste their time.
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moon72961. They end up staying home alone in front of the computer, (and they end up) wasting their time.
I disagree with adding "end up" before "wasting their time."
"wasting their time" is the writer's commentary or opinion. The writer comments that staying at home in front of a computer is a waste of time. They could be doing something else.
I con
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