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Anonymous Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
Why present participle in this sentence?
Hello,
I'm an english teacher overseas. My coworker showed me this sentence:
"Harira can be also prepared as an ordinary Moroccan meal using a blend of meat, chickpeas, and tomatoes."
Now, I believe that it should read as follows:
"Harira can also be prepared as an ordinary Moroccan meal, using a blend of meat, chickpeas, and tomatoes."
The question my coworker asked me was, why do we use the present participle "using" in this scenario? I know that it is correct but I'm at a loss to explain to him why it is correct.
Thanks!
I'm an english teacher overseas. My coworker showed me this sentence:
"Harira can be also prepared as an ordinary Moroccan meal using a blend of meat, chickpeas, and tomatoes."
Now, I believe that it should read as follows:
"Harira can also be prepared as an ordinary Moroccan meal, using a blend of meat, chickpeas, and tomatoes."
The question my coworker asked me was, why do we use the present participle "using" in this scenario? I know that it is correct but I'm at a loss to explain to him why it is correct.
Thanks!
Top answer
I see no reason for your comma: the ingredients seem restrictive to the meal being prepared. The non-finite clause uses the present participle to refer to the durational activity of preparation, I suppose. Though the participle itself has no tense, it takes or reflects the tense of the main verb: Harira can be prepared using chickpeas.
- I see no reason for your comma: the ingredients seem restrictive to the meal being prepared.
- The non-finite clause uses the present participle to refer to the durational activity of preparation, I suppose.
- Though the participle itself has no tense, it takes or reflects the tense of the main verb: Harira can be prepared using chickpeas.
- She prepared the harira using chickpeas.
- They will prepare the harira using chickpeas .
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4 Answers
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I see no reason for your comma: the ingredients seem restrictive to the meal being prepared. The non-finite clause uses the present participle to refer to the durational activity of preparation, I suppose. Though the participle itself has no tense, it takes or reflects the tense of the main verb:
Harira can be prepared using chickpeas.
She prepared the harira using chickpe
Harira can be prepared using chickpeas.
She prepared the harira using chickpe
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Hi Mister,
I used the comma due to this rule:
A participial phrase is set off with commas when it:
a) comes at the beginning of a sentence
b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element
c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.
Is this incorrect?
Thanks for your insight on the main question. I guess the
I used the comma due to this rule:
A participial phrase is set off with commas when it:
a) comes at the beginning of a sentence
b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element
c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.
Is this incorrect?
Thanks for your insight on the main question. I guess the
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AnonymousThe question my coworker asked me was, why do we use the present participle "using" in this scenario? I know that it is correct but I'm at a loss to explain to him why it is correct.I'm at a loss to understand what sort of argumentation you imagine would be needed to explain why "using" is correct. There are thousands of examples of participle claus
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Anonymousc) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies.My feeling is that this 'rule' refers to conceptual, not physical, separation.
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