silverturtle

To renlandrew:

'Driven by the desire for power, Hilter initiated the war."

The sentence is foremost active in voice. The subject is Hitler, and the predicate is "initiated the war." Because Hitler is the one who initiated the war, the sentence is active.

silverturtle

"look at these two simple sentences:
Mark Twain lived in Hartford for several years. Mark Twain is the author of Huckleberry Finn

can I combine them like this: Lived in Hartford for several years, Mark Twain is the author of Huckleberry Finn."

"Lived" cannot introduce a participial phrase by itself. The participial phrase would have to be "Having lived." However, I don't like connecting those two ideas in this way because the participial phrase really has no causal relationship with the clause.

silverturtle

From Ingenium,

To insist that a poem means whatever (one) (wants it) to mean is often (ignoring) the intention and (even) the words of the poet.

"ignoring" must be parallel with "To insist." The infinitive and parallel form of "ignoring" is "to ignore."

silverturtle

From Ingenium,

"Because traffic was (unusually heavy), Jim arrived ten minutes late (for) his job interview even though he had (ran desperately) all the way (from) the bus stop."

At the very least, "ran desperately" is wrong. The correct past participle of "to run" is "run" not "ran."

Ingenium

Thank you silverturtle for the explanations I get them now.

howon92

This thread is useful!
I'll post some of my writing questions as well..

renlandrew

silverturtle

i know 'Driven by the desire for power, Hilter initiated the war" is active; I meant to say the past participial phrase is passive. Are there examples with active past participial phrases?

silverturtle

"Are there examples with active past participial phrases?"

Having eaten his breakfast, Fred left his house.

fresh101

you can find some on the internet. Just google it.

renlandrew

sorry, i am still kinda confused ~~
first, is "having done" structure a past participial phrase?

second, from wikipedia:

The past participle may be used in both active and passive voices:

forming the perfect aspect: The chicken has eaten.
forming the passive voice: The chicken was eaten.
modifying a noun, with active sense: our fallen comrades
modifying a noun, with passive sense: the attached files
modifying a verb or sentence, with passive sense: Seen from this perspective, the problem presents no easy solution.

past participles can have active sense, but what about past participle phrases? you may also refer to this page Passive *– present & past participial phrases that basically tells "A sentence with a passive verb can be shortened to a modifying clause by using a past participle modifying phrase."

silverturtle

"past participles can have active sense, but what about past participle phrases?"

See post #158.

misterkevinsun

Hey all,

I have two writing questions for you.

A poetic form congenial to Robert Browning was the dramatic (monologue, it let him explore) a character's mind without the simplifications demanded by stage productions.
A. monologue, it let him explore
B. monologue, which let him explore
C. monologue that lets him explore
D. monologue; letting him explore
E. monologue by letting him do exploration of

I was stuck between two choices: B and C. The answer's B, but what is the difference between ", which" and "that." Also, what is the difference between let and lets?

(When Marie Curie shared) the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics (with two other) scientists-her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel-she (had been) the first woman (to win) the prize. No error.

I was stuck between A and D in this case but I went with A thinking that it was the wrong word to start the sentence with (thinking "Although Marie Curie shared" would have been better). I know D should be "was" but could you explain why?

Thanks,
Kevin

silverturtle

From misterkevinsun,

A poetic form congenial to Robert Browning was the dramatic (monologue, it let him explore) a character's mind without the simplifications demanded by stage productions.
A. monologue, it let him explore
B. monologue, which let him explore
C. monologue that lets him explore
D. monologue; letting him explore
E. monologue by letting him do exploration of

(C) is in the wrong tense (it should be past) and uses the improper relative pronoun. "which" should be used because the description of the dramatic monologue adds details and does not define the phrase.

silverturtle

From misterkevinsun,

(When Marie Curie shared) the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics (with two other) scientists-her husband Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel-she (had been) the first woman (to win) the prize. No error.

The sharing of the prize took place at the exact same time as did her being the first woman to receive the prize. Accordingly, they should be in the same tense. "had been" should be "was."

"Although" is not a logical dependent conjunction. The fact that the award was shared does not imply that one can't be the first of his or her gender to receive it.

renlandrew

silverturtle, any thought on the Q discussed in the previous post?

Bats and mosquitos come out at twilight, (and the bats would look for mosquitos and the mosquitos would look) for people
A) and the bats would look for mosquitos and the mosquitos would look
B) and the bats come to look for mosquitos while the mosquitos look
C) the bats look for mosquitos and the mosquiots are looking
D) the bats looking for mosquiots while mosquitos would look for
E) the bats to look for mosquitos and the mosquitos to look

why is the answer E, not B.........