The old coming to accept

Question

"It involves the old coming to accept – however reluctantly – that the young may have found an answer to a question they had forgotten needed answering." (The Guardian.)

Does "the old coming to accept" mean "the old getting to grips with"?

Is a question they had forgotten needed answering a noun phrase and the complement (object)of the preposition "to"?

Is my parsing of the clause a question they had forgotten needed answering correct?

a question they had forgotten - a subject;
needed - a predicator (a verb);
answering - a verb complement (an object?).

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

Anonymousthe old coming to accept

Old people gradually realize that the idea is true and then believe it.

Anonymouss a question they had forgotten needed answering a noun phrase and the complement (object)of the preposition "to"?

Yes.

AnonymousIs my parsing of the clause a question they had forgotten needed answering correct?

Yes.
More common is the infinitive: [needed] to be answered.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousDoes "the old coming to accept" mean "the old getting to grips with"?

"coming to grips with" is the idiom.

AnonymousIs a question they had forgotten needed answering a noun phrase and the complement (object)of the preposition "to"?

Yes.

Anonymous the clause ~~a question~~ [they had forgotten needed answering]

Only the bracketed part is a clause.

Anonymousa question they had forgotten - a subject;needed - a predicator (a verb);answering - a verb complement (an object?).

Not exactly.

a question ...... (which)
antecedent .... (implied relative, used below in another clause)

they ........ had forgotten (clause)
subject ... verb

(that) (it=which; i.e., question) needed ... answering (i.e. to be answered) (another clause)
........ ( subject, from above) .... verb ........ complement
[ ....................c o m p l e m e n t o f "f o r g e t" ........ ]

_______________________

needed answering is a catenative construction. I would not call answering an object.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

CalifJimAnonymous the clause a question [they had forgotten needed answering]Only the bracketed part is a clause.Anonymousa question they had forgotten - a subject;needed - a predicator (a verb);answering - a verb complement (an object?).Not exactly.

Thank you for that eye-opening, excellent analysis. I would never ever notice that "needed" has an implied subject, namely the relative pronoun "that" (it=which; i.e., question). You've made me realize that I contradicted myself by treating a question they had forgotten needed answering as a noun phrase, rightly as an prepositional object, and wrongly as a clause in my parsing.

The old coming to accept

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