Question
27 February
- Korean
-
English (US)
-
Guarani
Question about English (US)
A. My house is located near Han river, flowing northeast.
What does "flowing northeast" describe?
A. My house is located near Han river, flowing northeast.
What does "flowing northeast" describe?
What does "flowing northeast" describe?
Answers
- English (US)
- English (UK)
the direction of the river
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK Yes. A house cannot flow in any direction under reasonable circumstances, but a river can.
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
@edwardws
Thank you very much
I have one more question.
A. My house is located near Han river, flowing northeast.
Is sentence A correct English?
Thank you very much
I have one more question.
A. My house is located near Han river, flowing northeast.
Is sentence A correct English?
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK I'm not sure if I can give you a satisfying answer. Some people might not like this sentence because it is ambiguous (what is flowing, the house or the river?), but people do speak this way in real life, so you are likely to encounter these structures. If you wanted to be more clear and avoid potential misunderstanding, you could say
My house is located near Han river, which flows northeast.
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
@edwardws
Thank you very much
So as people do speak that way, is sentence A acceptable? and is it okay to say that way?
Thank you very much
So as people do speak that way, is sentence A acceptable? and is it okay to say that way?
- Korean
I really need your help on this topic..
And I have one more question.
B. There was a black van next to him, murdered by a gangster.
C. There was a black van next to him, eating a piece of pizza.
Maybe native speakers do sometimes informally write or say sentences like B and C?
I know that sentences B and C are ungrammatical because it's ambiguous which one was murdered by a gangster, and which one is eating a piece of pizza, though, according to context, it's very obvious that "him" was murdered by a gangster, and "him" was eating a piece of pizza, so I think that native speakers would sometimes informally write sentences like B and C
And I have one more question.
B. There was a black van next to him, murdered by a gangster.
C. There was a black van next to him, eating a piece of pizza.
Maybe native speakers do sometimes informally write or say sentences like B and C?
I know that sentences B and C are ungrammatical because it's ambiguous which one was murdered by a gangster, and which one is eating a piece of pizza, though, according to context, it's very obvious that "him" was murdered by a gangster, and "him" was eating a piece of pizza, so I think that native speakers would sometimes informally write sentences like B and C
- Korean
B. There was a black van next to him, murdered by a gangster.
C. There was a black van next to him, eating a piece of pizza.
I know that sentences B and C are not natural sentences, because both could be read either as the van was murdered and eating or "him" was murdered and eating,
but since there's a lot of strange sentence constructions used in English novels, I'd like to know whether I could meet sentences like B and C.
To explain further, I wrote "murdered by a gangster" and "eating a piece of pizza" to qualify "him", omitting "who was".
So my question is, can I meet such a sentence construction as used in B and C where this past participial phrase "murdered by a gangster" and this present participial phrase "eating a piece of pizza" qualify the object pronoun "him" ?
C. There was a black van next to him, eating a piece of pizza.
I know that sentences B and C are not natural sentences, because both could be read either as the van was murdered and eating or "him" was murdered and eating,
but since there's a lot of strange sentence constructions used in English novels, I'd like to know whether I could meet sentences like B and C.
To explain further, I wrote "murdered by a gangster" and "eating a piece of pizza" to qualify "him", omitting "who was".
So my question is, can I meet such a sentence construction as used in B and C where this past participial phrase "murdered by a gangster" and this present participial phrase "eating a piece of pizza" qualify the object pronoun "him" ?
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK I think these examples sound much less natural than your original example, and for that reason natives would be much less likely to write them. I think you could still encounter weird or ambiguous participle phrases in the 'wild' (so to speak), but they would most likely be in more complicated or run-on sentences. For example, I can compose something like:
I looked out my window across the blowing golden plains, and in the distance by a glistening pond I spot a woman, her hair blowing in the breeze, standing still and glancing downward as if pondering a question of great importance.
So here it would be clear that "standing still" refers to the woman
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
@edwardws
Thank you very much
D. The doctors tried hard to save him, shot by a gangster.
Then according to context surrounding sentence D, as non-essential information set off by a comma, can "shot by a gangster" work in qualifying "him"?
The condition is that context is given enough earlier that the non-essential information "shot by a gangster" is obviously seen as qualifying "him".
It seems like "shot by a gangster" could work in qualifying D"him", since D has the same construction as C.
If D is possible, could you make some examples where object pronouns are qualified by non-essential information set off by a comma such as past participle phrase and present participle phrase?
Thank you very much
D. The doctors tried hard to save him, shot by a gangster.
Then according to context surrounding sentence D, as non-essential information set off by a comma, can "shot by a gangster" work in qualifying "him"?
The condition is that context is given enough earlier that the non-essential information "shot by a gangster" is obviously seen as qualifying "him".
It seems like "shot by a gangster" could work in qualifying D"him", since D has the same construction as C.
If D is possible, could you make some examples where object pronouns are qualified by non-essential information set off by a comma such as past participle phrase and present participle phrase?
Read more comments
- Korean
@edwardws
But did you understand my question?
I'm worrying if you mistake what I'm asking about because of my bad English.
or... could you simply give an answer on whether it's possible even for "past participle phrase case" and "prepositional phrase case"?
But did you understand my question?
I'm worrying if you mistake what I'm asking about because of my bad English.
or... could you simply give an answer on whether it's possible even for "past participle phrase case" and "prepositional phrase case"?
- Korean
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK The prepositional phrase case sounds really wrong with the comma. I don't think I've ever seen it used that way. I think the past participle variant does occur, but it's probably frowned upon by grammarians
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
@edwardws
1. The doctors tried hard to save him, shot by a gangster.
Then at least, is sentence 1 possible when "shot by a gangster" qualifies "him"?
1. The doctors tried hard to save him, shot by a gangster.
Then at least, is sentence 1 possible when "shot by a gangster" qualifies "him"?
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK It still sounds really weird. I think a more natural example would be along the lines of
I tried to call out to him, surrounded by guards.
but that also sounds weird
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
@edwardws
E. I tried to call out to him, surrounded by guards.
Then in this sentence E, does "surrounded by guards" qualify "him"?
I'm sorry to ask again and again. but to check again
E. I tried to call out to him, surrounded by guards.
Then in this sentence E, does "surrounded by guards" qualify "him"?
I'm sorry to ask again and again. but to check again
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK Yes, but it's ambiguous like all the example we looked at
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean
And actually could I come across a sentence where a past participle phrase set off by a comma qualifies "him"?
Please help me out this is my last question. And thank you very much
Please help me out this is my last question. And thank you very much
- English (US)
- English (UK)
@KoreanK yes but I think it is pretty rare and likely to be considered grammatically incorrect
Highly-rated answerer
- Korean

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