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Victorycountry Posted 21 years ago
Grammar
she looks at him, concerned
Hi,
I saw the following sentence on a movie script and I am just wondering why "concern" is in past tense in "she looks at him, concerned".
"she looks at him, concerned"
What I am wondering here is while "looks" is in simple present, how come "concern" is in past tense.
Also, after that sentence, there is the following sentence which I found on the same script and it makes me more confuse.
"she looks at him, not understanding".
I remember I'd asked similar questions before, but I am still not good at understanding this kind of structure ( obviously, these kinds of sentences can be divided into two sentence; e.g. she looks at him and she doesn't understand).
More examples ( more I see, more I am confused)
1. He looks at her, emotional
2. Amy looks at him, considering
etc...
Thanks in advance.
I saw the following sentence on a movie script and I am just wondering why "concern" is in past tense in "she looks at him, concerned".
"she looks at him, concerned"
What I am wondering here is while "looks" is in simple present, how come "concern" is in past tense.
Also, after that sentence, there is the following sentence which I found on the same script and it makes me more confuse.
"she looks at him, not understanding".
I remember I'd asked similar questions before, but I am still not good at understanding this kind of structure ( obviously, these kinds of sentences can be divided into two sentence; e.g. she looks at him and she doesn't understand).
More examples ( more I see, more I am confused)
1. He looks at her, emotional
2. Amy looks at him, considering
etc...
Thanks in advance.
Top answer
she looks at him, concerned (nonfinite adverbial clause using the past participle, modifying the main clause) she looks at him, not understanding (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause) He looks at her, emotional (seems to be a postmodifying adjective for he ) Amy looks at him, considering (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause) I could be wrong. They may all be adjectival clauses modifying the subject. There may be other interpretations.
- she looks at him, concerned (nonfinite adverbial clause using the past participle, modifying the main clause) she looks at him, not understanding (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause) He looks at her, emotional (seems to be a postmodifying adjective for he ) Amy looks at him, considering (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause) I could be wrong.
- They may all be adjectival clauses modifying the subject.
- There may be other interpretations.
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3 Answers
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she looks at him, concerned (nonfinite adverbial clause using the past participle, modifying the main clause)
she looks at him, not understanding (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause)
He looks at her, emotional (seems to be a postmodifying adjective for he)
Amy looks at him, considerin
she looks at him, not understanding (nonfinite adverbial clause using the present participle, modifying the main clause)
He looks at her, emotional (seems to be a postmodifying adjective for he)
Amy looks at him, considerin
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I think, too, that either adverbial or adjectival are possibilities. Of the four statements, 'Amy...considering' is the most confusing to me.
But, it's quite automatic for me to read the first three this way:
Concerned, she looks at him.
Not understanding, she looks at him.
But, it's quite automatic for me to read the first three this way:
Concerned, she looks at him.
Not understanding, she looks at him.
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