Without breaking vs. without broken

Question

without breaking vs. without brokenThe sentence below comes from this website as follows:https://www.google.co.kr/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=%22In+the+children%27s+book+Impunity+Jane%22 In the children's book Impunity Jane, a doll named Jane undergoes all kinds of rough handling without breaking.In this sentence I'd like to ask a question regarding the meaning of the underlined part, 'without breaking'.When we thought up the word, 'break', we ask for, first, WHO BREAKS, and next, WHAT IS BROKEN.In this sentence WHO and WHAT is not evident.I thought WHAT can be Impunity Jane, the doll.But, if so, 'breaking' should be 'broken'.Well, I'm at a loss in this not-hard-in-appearance-but-quite-hard-in-reality sentence.Shouldn't 'without breaking' be replaced for 'without broken'?Regards.

Tamguatlay · Accepted Answer

'without breaking' is correct.

Teechr · Answer

Stenka25I thought WHAT can be Impunity Jane or the doll.

It's the doll; the comma after "Jane" clarifies that.
In that sentence, "without breaking" is a participle clause acting as an adverbial.

Stenka25 · Answer

Let me requote what I wrote in the original thread.

When we thought up the word, 'break', we ask for, first, WHO BREAKS, and next, WHAT IS BROKEN.

When I made that remark above, I was suggesting 'break' is a transitive verb.

But in 'without breaking' in the sentence in question, 'breaking' is used as a gerund which is the object of the preposition 'without', but it originally comes from verb 'break' to which '-ing' is attached.

Since 'break' can be used both as a transitive and an intransitive as in "The window was broken" and "The window broke", I thought 'breaking' in 'without breaking' is from the intransitive usage of the BREAK to make no contradiction in the my sense of English grammar.

But I face a dilemma in my logic.
Even though BREAK can be used both forms of verb usage, we don't use 'breaking window' in place of 'broken window' where my question arose whether to replace 'without breaking' with 'without broken'.

Teechr, I know the sentence is not wrong, I just don't know the reason.
And I am also well aware of the difficulty of explaining this sort of grammar question because there is as many questions in grammar that cannot be interpreted as those that can.

But I still want to know the reason why 'without breaking' instead of 'without broken' is right even though the subject of 'break' is a doll.

Regards.

CalifJim · Answer

The answer is to be found in the topic "ergative verbs". (But maybe you are already aware of this, so you can just skip to the last few sentences of my post below.)

Many transitive verbs come in two 'flavors': active and passive.

Ergative verbs come in three 'flavors. The third 'flavor' is to use the verb as an intransitive verb.

Mary broke the [plate / egg / doll]. (active)
The [plate / egg / doll] was broken by Mary. (passive)
The [plate / egg / doll] broke. (The original object is used as a subject. Now 'to break' is intransitive.)

The subject in "without breaking" is "the doll", i.e., without the doll breaking.

See http://grammar.about.com/od/e/g/Ergative.htm

There you'll see a list of "ergative pairs", i.e., the active transitive and the ergative intransitive:

burn I've burned the toast. The toast has burned.
break The wind broke the branches. The branches broke.
burst She burst the balloon. The balloon burst.
close He closed his eyes. His eyes closed.
cook I'm cooking the rice. The rice is cooking.
fade The sun has faded the carpet. The carpet has faded.
freeze The low temperature has frozen the milk. The milk has frozen.
melt The heat has melted the ice. The ice has melted.
run Tim is running the bathwater. The bathwater is running.
stretch I stretched the elastic. The elastic stretched.
tighten He tightened the rope. The rope tightened.
wave Someone waved a flag. A flag waved.
_____________________

Oh, and by the way. The only verb form that is permitted after a preposition (e.g., without) is the -ing form, so, in a way, you can just skip all the stuff about ergative verbs because 'breaking' is the only form grammatically possible after 'without'.

CJ

Stenka25 · Answer

Thanks a lot as always, CJ.

I knew some of ergative pairs but this list is really long and complete

Ergative verb gives English passage a great "versatility", but it gives me quite a headache

Ergative quality of the verb 'break' makes 'without breaking' possible and right.

Then, ONE last question, is 'without being broken' possible in the original sentence without any loss of meaning?
(If you think I am too fussy about something irrelevant, you can remove 'without any loss of meaning'.)

Regards.

CalifJim · Answer

Stenka25I knew some of ergative pairs but this list is really long and complete

Long, but not complete, I'm sure.

Stenka25it gives me quite a headache

Always keep aspirin nearby when studying English.

Stenka25is 'without being broken' possible in the original sentence without any loss of meaning?

Yes, but no native speaker would bother to express it in so much detail. For us it's perfectly clear with just 'without breaking'. (By the way, 'without getting broken' is an alternate form.)

It's possible grammatically because 'being' is an -ing form, and that's OK grammatically after the preposition 'without'.

CJ

Stenka25 · Answer

I will try EnglishForum first, before I take asprin

And I can't thank you ENOUGH for all this considerate replies.
Thanks a lot, CJ

Without breaking vs. without broken

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