~Advanced Learners~
❌Walking in the grass, a snake bit her.❌
What's wrong with this sentence, if any?
Every learner of English ought to know the difference between participial construction and absolute construction. These two constructions are the source of many an error often committed by English users.
What is participial construction? It is a common type of sentence construction in English. It consists of a participial phrase or clause followed by the main clause. The participle may be present participle (- ing) or past participle (-ed or -en). Look at these sentences :
*Singing loudly, Rama entered the room.
*Being popular, he will win the election hands down.
*Tired from work, Sita went to bed early.
*Having read the book, she returned it to the library.
*Disappointed in love, he decided to commit suicide.
The first part of the sentence is called a participial phrase. The verbs in participial phrases are in the participle forms, present or past, and their subjects (not mentioned) are always the same as the subjects in the main clauses. So, remember that if you put a noun or pronoun other than the real subject (that is, subject of the participial phrase) at the beginning of the main clause, it may result in confusion! Look at this sentence:
Walking in the grass, a snake bit her.
What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as
Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake
the sentence would make sense.
Now, let me discuss Absolute Construction. This type of sentence construction makes use of absolute phrases. What is an absolute phrase? Well, it is different from participial phrases in that it explicitly mentions the subject. The subject is never mentioned in participial phrases. For example, "being rich" is a participial phrase, "he being rich" is an absolute phrase. Another difference between participial construction and absolute construction is that the subjects of absolute phrases are always different from those of their main clauses. For this reason the syntactic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause is always a fragile one. Hence the name absolute construction. You know absolute means "independent" or "not related " etc. The absolute phrases serves to give additional details in a hurried manner, so to speak. Nonetheless, there is a strong semantic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause. Look at these sentences:
*The party being over, the guests began to depart.
*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable.
*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday.
*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful.
❌Walking in the grass, a snake bit her.❌
What's wrong with this sentence, if any?
Every learner of English ought to know the difference between participial construction and absolute construction. These two constructions are the source of many an error often committed by English users.
What is participial construction? It is a common type of sentence construction in English. It consists of a participial phrase or clause followed by the main clause. The participle may be present participle (- ing) or past participle (-ed or -en). Look at these sentences :
*Singing loudly, Rama entered the room.
*Being popular, he will win the election hands down.
*Tired from work, Sita went to bed early.
*Having read the book, she returned it to the library.
*Disappointed in love, he decided to commit suicide.
The first part of the sentence is called a participial phrase. The verbs in participial phrases are in the participle forms, present or past, and their subjects (not mentioned) are always the same as the subjects in the main clauses. So, remember that if you put a noun or pronoun other than the real subject (that is, subject of the participial phrase) at the beginning of the main clause, it may result in confusion! Look at this sentence:
Walking in the grass, a snake bit her.
What impression do you get? Was the snake walking? If you re-write the sentence as
Walking in the grass, she was bitten by a snake
the sentence would make sense.
Now, let me discuss Absolute Construction. This type of sentence construction makes use of absolute phrases. What is an absolute phrase? Well, it is different from participial phrases in that it explicitly mentions the subject. The subject is never mentioned in participial phrases. For example, "being rich" is a participial phrase, "he being rich" is an absolute phrase. Another difference between participial construction and absolute construction is that the subjects of absolute phrases are always different from those of their main clauses. For this reason the syntactic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause is always a fragile one. Hence the name absolute construction. You know absolute means "independent" or "not related " etc. The absolute phrases serves to give additional details in a hurried manner, so to speak. Nonetheless, there is a strong semantic relation between the absolute phrase and the main clause. Look at these sentences:
*The party being over, the guests began to depart.
*Her husband being away, she felt lonely and miserable.
*All government offices will remain closed tomorrow, tomorrow being a holiday.
*The doctor having arrived, she looked happy and cheerful.
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🔴 Daily Conversations:
♦️Visiting
🔸When you are ready to leave the hosts
🔹I have to go now.
🔹I've got to go.
🔹I really must go.
🔹I'm afraid I have to be going.
🔹I've got to be going.
🔹I've got to be running.
🔹I'm afraid I must run.
🔹I need to run.
🔹I've got to run.
🔹I've got to get moving.
🔹I'd better get moving.
🔹I'd better be off.
🔹I'd better be going.
🔹I must be off.
🔹I better hit the road.
🔹I've got to hit the road.
🔹I've got to take off.
🔹It's time to go.
🔹It's time to run.
🔹It's time to hit the road.
🔹I must say goodnight.
🔹Well, it's getting late.
🔹I have to get up early tomorrow.
🔹I have a big day tomorrow.
♦️Visiting
🔸When you are ready to leave the hosts
🔹I have to go now.
🔹I've got to go.
🔹I really must go.
🔹I'm afraid I have to be going.
🔹I've got to be going.
🔹I've got to be running.
🔹I'm afraid I must run.
🔹I need to run.
🔹I've got to run.
🔹I've got to get moving.
🔹I'd better get moving.
🔹I'd better be off.
🔹I'd better be going.
🔹I must be off.
🔹I better hit the road.
🔹I've got to hit the road.
🔹I've got to take off.
🔹It's time to go.
🔹It's time to run.
🔹It's time to hit the road.
🔹I must say goodnight.
🔹Well, it's getting late.
🔹I have to get up early tomorrow.
🔹I have a big day tomorrow.
🔴 Daily Conversations:
♦️Negative Attitude in a Conversation
🔸When you express disagreement with the speaker's point or information
🔹That's not entirely true.
🔹Not always.
🔹Not anymore.
🔹That's not the way I heard it.
🔹That's not right.
🔹That's not true.
🔹On the contrary,…
🔹I can't accept that.
🔹You've got that wrong.
🔹You've got it all wrong.
🔹You've got the facts wrong.
🔹You've got your facts wrong.
🔹You haven't got the facts.
🔹I don't think you've got your facts straight.
🔹You don't know what you're talking about.
🔹You don't know the first thing about it.
🔹That's not the case.
🔹You're putting a spin on the facts.
🔹That's a lie.
🔹You're lying through your teeth.
🔹Nonsense!
🔹Baloney!
🔹That's a bunch of baloney.
♦️Negative Attitude in a Conversation
🔸When you express disagreement with the speaker's point or information
🔹That's not entirely true.
🔹Not always.
🔹Not anymore.
🔹That's not the way I heard it.
🔹That's not right.
🔹That's not true.
🔹On the contrary,…
🔹I can't accept that.
🔹You've got that wrong.
🔹You've got it all wrong.
🔹You've got the facts wrong.
🔹You've got your facts wrong.
🔹You haven't got the facts.
🔹I don't think you've got your facts straight.
🔹You don't know what you're talking about.
🔹You don't know the first thing about it.
🔹That's not the case.
🔹You're putting a spin on the facts.
🔹That's a lie.
🔹You're lying through your teeth.
🔹Nonsense!
🔹Baloney!
🔹That's a bunch of baloney.
🔴 Daily Conversations:
♦️Stress, Anxiety, Excitement
🔸When you don't know what to say
🔹I don't know what to say.
🔹I have nothing to say.
🔹I have nothing to add.
🔹I'm speechless.
🔹I have no response.
🔹I'm lost for words.
🔹I'm at a loss for words.
🔹What can I say?
🔹What can I tell you?
🔹What do you want me to say?
🔹No comment.
♦️Stress, Anxiety, Excitement
🔸When you don't know what to say
🔹I don't know what to say.
🔹I have nothing to say.
🔹I have nothing to add.
🔹I'm speechless.
🔹I have no response.
🔹I'm lost for words.
🔹I'm at a loss for words.
🔹What can I say?
🔹What can I tell you?
🔹What do you want me to say?
🔹No comment.
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