"The students failing at the test are upset."

Question

is it 'at the test' or 'in the test'? Is 'failing at the test' a prepositional phrase?Thanks!

Canadian45 · Accepted Answer

nerdikarpis it 'at the test' or 'in the test'? neither
The students (failing)(who failed) the test are upset.

Is 'failing at the test' a prepositional phrase? No, "failing" is an adjective.

Thanks!
c45

Dimsumexpress · Answer

The students (failing)(who failed) the test are upset.

I don't think "failing " is an option in this sentence. Students are upset becasue they "failed" which is after the test.

Failing , to me, functions as a present participle which is not the appropriate choice. Just my two cents.

Canadian45 · Answer

dimsumexpressThe students (failing)(who failed) the test are upset. I don't think "failing " is an option in this sentence. Students are upset becasue they "failed" which is after the test. Yes, that is a likely situation, but it could be a multiple-part test or an ongoing test and so far some students are failing. So since what the poster wrote is not definitely wrong, we can't ignore it
Additionally, "failing" is also used even after the test is over and the results are known. So, it can have the same meaning as "who failed".

Dimsumexpress · Answer

If I am not mistaken, this type of sentence structure can be a trap for those who are trying to learn.

canadian45Yes, that is a likely situation, but it could be a multiple-part test or an ongoing test and so far some students are failing. So since what the poster wrote is not definitely wrong, we can't ignore it
Additionally, "failing" is also used even after the test is over and the results are known. So, it can have the same meaning as "who failed".

But taken what you gave as an example and its face value, you could be correct that this test may be a multiple part process; If this is the original text.

I think you are likely to agree that when to use " present participle" as adverbial is not a clean-cut answer. There are certain verbs that are just ackward being used that way.

i.e. The dentist working on my teeth last week died yesterday. vs The dentist who worked on my teeth last week died yesterday. This is a similar structure to the "failing" example, even though the core of the meaning got across, the syntactical element using "working" in this context didn't seem to fit; well, to me anyway. However, if I used this example, it would work fine:

My boss, feeling sick all week but still going to work; trying to complete this merger deal, had finally collapsed at the meeting this morning. Note that I placed a comma after "boss".

Canadian45 · Answer

dimsumexpressI think you are likely to agree that when to use " present participle" as adverbial is not a clean-cut answer.
"failing" is not adverbial.

Anonymous · Answer

canadian45
dimsumexpressI think you are likely to agree that when to use " present participle" as adverbial is not a clean-cut answer.
"failing" is not adverbial.

Well, yes, "failing" by itself is is a present participle and had no adverbial property, but "failing the test...." is.

Students are upset. The reason is, failing the test.

Imantaghavi · Answer

Dear nerdikarp,

We usually fail a subject means we recieve an academic grade below the acceptable minimum

E.g: I failed algebra twice.

Hope it works

Iman

Canadian45 · Answer

dimsumexpressI Well, yes, "failing" by itself is is a present participle and had no adverbial property, but "failing the test.." is. I don't agree.
Students are upset. The reason is, failing the test.

Students failing the test are upset.

The underlined part is the subject of the sentence. "failing the test" is an adjective phrase giving information about the students. "are" is the only verb in the sentence. "upset" is an adjective; grammarians call it a subject complement.

Dimsumexpress · Answer

Hi,

Sorry, I have to disagree, though I find it really interesting how we interpret present participle properties. Here is an excerpt for thoughts:

http://www.yourdictionary.com/dictionary-articles/Teaching-Adverbial-and-Adjective-Clauses.html

Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial clauses are dependent clauses that modify verbs and verb phrases. Adverbial clauses answer questions about the verb phrase that relate to time, location, purpose, and condition. When teaching students to identify adverbial clauses, you should ask them to consider what kinds of questions the clause answers. If the clause they are tying to identify answers the question "why?", "when?", "where?", "to what degree?", or "under what conditions?" then it is an adverbial clause. Consider the following examples of adverbial clauses:

canadian45Students failing the test are upset.

Going back to my last post, "failing the test" clearly fits the criteria stated in the above, and thus carries the adverbial property, unless I learned my English completely wrong. To me, writing it another way: Failing the test, students are upset. This form clearly shows it adverbial property. In fact, this is a better alternative in my opinion. Adjective properties describes the "whats" , like colors, condition, taste, and feelings etc. In this case, deals why "why", they are upset.

Canadian45 · Answer

Your reference does not support your claim, and I am not surpriised. There is no verb or verb phrase in the sentence that "failing the test" is modifying.

'The man driving the car is old.' is grammatically the same as our sentence. ''driving..." is an adjective modifyng "man".

I don't think I have anything more to say to you about this.

"The students failing at the test are upset."

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