Position of a participle phrase and the noun it modifies

Question

France has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012, sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic.

Source: "Beleaguered Hollande heads to US to boost French economy", AFP.

Could you comment about the sentence below with the participle phrase moved next to the noun it modifies?

France sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012.

Thanks.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Squarewith the participle phrase moved next to the noun it modifies

The participle phrase doesn't modify the noun "France". It's simply extra information added to the main clause. The relationship between a main clause and its accompanying participle clause is indeterminate, but it can often be guessed at without too much trouble. I've shown you some logical guesses below.

1 France has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012, sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic.

France has played a leading role .... The evidence for this is that France sent troops to fight ....
France has played a leading role .... This is shown by the fact that France sent troops to fight ....
France has played a leading role .... by sending troops to fight ....

2 France sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012.

In this sentence France is no longer playing a leading role directly. It is "sending troops" that has played a leading role. But it is normally only people that can play a role (in this case the people that form the government of France). An action can't play a role. What you have here is not the same as what you wrote in 1, and it doesn't make as much sense as 1.

You no longer have a participle clause in 2. "sending troops ..." is now in subject position, making it a gerund.

The subject of the gerund is "France", and that is more correctly expressed as a possessive, so it should be

France's sending troops ...

CJ

Square · Answer

Thank you for the detailed answer.

I thought #1 and #2 have the same meaning.

1. France sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republichas played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012.
2. France, which has sent troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic, has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012.

CalifJim · Answer

SquareI thought #1 and #2 have the same meaning.

No. "France sending troops" sounds like it should be more like "France's sending troops" or "France's sending of troops". In any case, #1 says Sending troops has played a role. #2 says that France has played a role.

You can use commas in an attempt to make it more clear:

France, sending troops to fight Islamist rebels in Mali and to stem unrest in the Central African Republic, has played a leading role in African security since Hollande took office in 2012.

But that doesn't sound right either. It says that France is sending troops now, which isn't the right meaning. The right meaning is that BY sending troops, France has played a leading role or BECAUSE France sent troops, France has played a leading role.

It's hard to change the original sentence at all without changing the meaning. The closest you might come is:

Having sent troops to fight ... Republic, France has played ... in 2012.

CJ

Position of a participle phrase and the noun it modifies

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions