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Tashiro Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
Which sentence is close?
Hi, teachers. Please help me.
'On the round white tabletop reflecting the ceiling light was an ashtray made of glass.'
Which sentence is close to the sentence above?
?An ashtray made of glass was on the round white tabletop that was reflecting the ceiling light.
?On the round white tabletop, an ashtray made of glass was reflecting the ceiling light.
'On the round white tabletop reflecting the ceiling light was an ashtray made of glass.'
Which sentence is close to the sentence above?
?An ashtray made of glass was on the round white tabletop that was reflecting the ceiling light.
?On the round white tabletop, an ashtray made of glass was reflecting the ceiling light.
Top answer
) because if a relative pronoun were used, commas would also have to be used because a table has only one top: On the round white tabletop, which reflected the ceiling light, was an ashtray made of glass. Present participles are usually used as relative clause equivalents for defining relative clauses only. Therefore the logical interpretation would be No.
- ) because if a relative pronoun were used, commas would also have to be used because a table has only one top: On the round white tabletop, which reflected the ceiling light, was an ashtray made of glass.
- Present participles are usually used as relative clause equivalents for defining relative clauses only.
- Therefore the logical interpretation would be No.
- 2.
- However, I do know that English is a rather vague and inexact language and it is possible that in many people's minds No.
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1 Answers
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Reflecting starts a non-defining relative clause equivalent (Scandinavian grammar!) because if a relative pronoun were used, commas would also have to be used because a table has only one top:
On the round white tabletop, which reflected the ceiling light, was an ashtray made of glass.
On the round white tabletop, which reflected the ceiling light, was an ashtray made of glass.
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