0
Hkqq Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Syntax again

Hi Sir/Madam, is below syntax correct?

Talking (Gerund) with youngsters including teenagers and university students (prepositional phrase), I (subject) found (verb) most (noun) were quite concerned (verb) about their future career (prepositional phrase) and (conjunction) were also bewildered (verb) about the purpose of their lives (prepositional phrase).
  

Top answer

) bewildered (verb) (adj. complement) about the purpose (prepositional phrase) of their lives (prepositional phrase). (*** phrase) I don't know if you call this a gerundive phrase or a noun phrase.

— Avangi

  • ) bewildered (verb) (adj.
  • complement) about the purpose (prepositional phrase) of their lives (prepositional phrase).
  • (*** phrase) I don't know if you call this a gerundive phrase or a noun phrase.
  • (YYY phrase) "Including" is a preposition in Canada only.
  • In the rest of the world, this is a participial phrase.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

5 Answers
0
hkqq Talking (Gerund) with youngsters(*** phrase), including teenagers and university students (prepositional phrase) (YYY phrase), I (subject) found (verb) most (noun) were (verb) quite concerned (verb) about their future career (prepositional phrase) and (conjunction) were (verb) also (adv.) bewildered (verb) (adj. comple
0
0
Talking with youngsters is a particple phrase.

Racing from the library, I saw...
Opening her purse, she was shocked to find...
Eating breakfast late one morning, Edward realized...

Is this useful to you in forming your own sentences? I wonder how identifying these part of speech and phrases helps you come up with your own, well-construted English sentences.
0
0
Hi GG,
I was tickled to hear you say that "talking with youngsters" is a participial phrase. I had been itching to say that for an hour. (Now I'll probably be scratching all night long!")

I had learned in grammar school that "gerund" was a functional definition. But everyone here seems adamant that once a participle is assigned the function of a noun in a sentence, it may nevermore
0
0
I've never claimed to be good at naming things.

Opening the box was a stupid idea - yes, gerund, sure.

Opening the box, I was horrified to discover - how can that be anything but a particple phase? I opened the box. As I was opening the box.

Oh well. People call things what they call things. Yet another reason that I find little value in running around throwing labels o
0
0
But you're right, GG! Now that I've had a couple hours' sleep, I can see that I got suckered by "hkqq's" label. Hot dang! How's that for an excuse? I was taking "talking" as a subject. (something like, Talking with students, including etc. etc., is etc.) How stupid. Your examples are perfectly appropriate. It's not a gerund. (How do you
0

Related Questions