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Anonymous Posted 20 years ago
Grammar
participle phrase - don't we need a noun here ?
Is the following sentence correct ?? If so, who is "making it the leading killer" ..
As I understand, the noun of main phrase acts as subject for participle phrase.. So in this case 500,000 is acting as the subject for the phrase - making it the leading killer of men and women in the U.S. , correct ??
Or let me ask the basic question.. Do we always need a clear subject for participle phrase ??
Fourteen million Americans have coronary heart disease, and 500,000 die from the condition every year, making it the leading killer of men and women in the U.S.
As I understand, the noun of main phrase acts as subject for participle phrase.. So in this case 500,000 is acting as the subject for the phrase - making it the leading killer of men and women in the U.S. , correct ??
Or let me ask the basic question.. Do we always need a clear subject for participle phrase ??
Fourteen million Americans have coronary heart disease, and 500,000 die from the condition every year, making it the leading killer of men and women in the U.S.
Top answer
The fact that 500 000 people die makes coronary desease the leading killer.
- The fact that 500 000 people die makes coronary desease the leading killer.
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4 Answers
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The fact that 500 000 people die makes coronary desease the leading killer.
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This is a standard pattern, especially in journalistic English.
making it the leading killer ... is a participial phrase.
You are quite right that it has no clear and obvious subject. And it doesn't need to. The subject can be inferred from context. deaths from coronary heart disease make it the leading killer ... is the missing connection we, as rea
making it the leading killer ... is a participial phrase.
You are quite right that it has no clear and obvious subject. And it doesn't need to. The subject can be inferred from context. deaths from coronary heart disease make it the leading killer ... is the missing connection we, as rea
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Hi Jim,
Thanks for taking your time to answer.. Another quick qn.. Isn't "it" referring to "condition" in the above sentence ?? "it" should be referring to "coronary heart disease" , correct ? Sometimes, I get confused by pronoun reference..
Thanks for taking your time to answer.. Another quick qn.. Isn't "it" referring to "condition" in the above sentence ?? "it" should be referring to "coronary heart disease" , correct ? Sometimes, I get confused by pronoun reference..
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In this case, the heart disease IS the condition, so "it" can refer to either.
(Pronoun reference can be an issue that native speakers make a lot of mistakes with too. When you try to edit someone's writing and say "You have an ambiguous antecendent," most people look at you like you just said something in Maritan.)
Sometimes you need to use logic to figure it out, and sometimes
(Pronoun reference can be an issue that native speakers make a lot of mistakes with too. When you try to edit someone's writing and say "You have an ambiguous antecendent," most people look at you like you just said something in Maritan.)
Sometimes you need to use logic to figure it out, and sometimes
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