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rice07
Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 385
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 Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:24 am Post subject: ... working on the campaign |
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The following was a question raised by somebody else in a forum few days ago:
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| After spending two weeks working on the campaign,the marking team has finally figured out a tag line. |
A teacher in that forum said: In that case, 'working', a present participle, leading 'on the campaign', is used to modify 'two weeks'.
Is that true? From where I stand, I think 'working' is not a present participle, but a gerund served as the object of a preposition in or on that is usually left out in spoken English.(e.g. After spending two weeks (in/on) working on the campaign, ...)
May I have your comment on that?
BTW, I am not in here asking for ammunition of you to win a battle. Just want to make it clear. 
rice |
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asterix
Joined: 26 Jan 2003
Posts: 1654
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| It's a present participle. |
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rice07
Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 385
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 11:00 am Post subject: |
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Hi asterix
Thanks for your comment on that.
If what you said is true, how do you explain the cases in the following?
#1. I'd rather spend money traveling than buying a house.
#2. She woke early, meaning to spend all day writing.
Are all 'traveling', 'buying', and 'writing' present participles in the cases above?
If so, there would be no easy way for me to put their literal translations coherently, and reasonably. In particular, as for #1, if both travelling and buying are present participles, their functions may be servered similarly as adjectives or adverbs. Taking being served as adjectives for instance, both travelling and buying refer to the antecedent money. That way, it might have a very different meaning from that of both travelling and buying served as the objects of a preposition.
Sorry for my being slow on this point. 
rice |
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