comma Ving

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron/experts
Hope you are doing good.
suppose we have the following structure:
subject verb blah blah... X that verb....Y that verb, V ing
then is it red, green or yellow that is being modified by Ving?
Thanks in advance

[tim]

My guess is that if you supply real words to make this a real sentence, it will be obvious to you. Try it out, and if you still have a question, send us your real sentence and we'll help you.

[RonPurewal]

Hello Ron/experts
Hope you are doing good.
suppose we have the following structure:
subject verb blah blah... X that verb....Y that verb, V ing
then is it red, green or yellow that is being modified by Ving?
Thanks in advance

in a GOOD sentence, it should be the nearest action -- which in this case would be the yellow thing.

it's POSSIBLE for the __ing modifier to describe one of the farther-away actions -- but only if the context is absolutely 100 percent crystal-clear. and even then, i doubt they'd do that in a correct sentence on this exam.

[aflaamM589]

Thanks Ron,
you are a gem,
God bless you

[RonPurewal]

you're welcome.

[aflaamM589]

Hello Ron/experts
Hope you are doing good.
suppose we have the following structure:
subject verb blah blah... X that verb....Y that verb, V ing
then is it red, green or yellow that is being modified by Ving?
Thanks in advance

in a GOOD sentence, it should be the nearest action -- which in this case would be the yellow thing.

it's POSSIBLE for the __ing modifier to describe one of the farther-away actions -- but only if the context is absolutely 100 percent crystal-clear. and even then, i doubt they'd do that in a correct sentence on this exam.

Ron i reread the post and analyze these words a little deeper,
what you said meant that it need not be a clause ( i.e need not be that/ which/weather/ who clause)

I needs to be an action.
i.e can be a adjective as well, right?

[RonPurewal]

i'm not seeing how it could be an adjective—but that wasn't the point. the point was that "comma + __ing" can describe actions, even if they aren't grammatically verbs.

[RonPurewal]

e.g.,
I dropped the bags onto the floor, scaring the dogs.
My sister looked through the window and saw me dropping the bags onto the floor, scaring the dogs.

both of these are fine.
the action that scared the dogs is my dropping of the bags.
in the first sentence that's actually a verb ("dropped"), while in the second it isn't ("droppING"—ING's aren't verbs). but, that distinction is irrelevant; the modifier works the same way for both.