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Right?

 
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Sina



Joined: 25 Jan 2005
Posts: 117
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 7:13 am    Post subject: Right? Reply with quote
The earth is the mother of all living, the man only being a member of a chain, consisting of animals, mineral resources and soils.

Is it possible to make usage of the gerund in this context?

Thanks again.
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bud



Joined: 09 Mar 2003
Posts: 2111
Location: New Jersey, US
PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Do you mean is being correct? Yes it is.

By the way, "man" instead of "the man" is better in this situation.
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LucentShade



Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 542
Location: Nebraska, USA
PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:47 pm    Post subject: Re: Right? Reply with quote
Sina wrote:
The earth is the mother of all living, the man only being a member of a chain, consisting of animals, mineral resources and soils.

Is it possible to make usage of the gerund in this context?

Thanks again.


"The Earth is the mother of all living things"
or "all things living," as English can sometimes reverse nouns and adjectives for poetic effect.

"man" instead of "the man" (no article before nouns that are used in a general or abstract sense)

delete the comma after "chain," because the way I'm reading it, "man" consists of animals, mineral resources and soils. The problem here is restrictive vs. non-restrictive--the gerund adjective phrase "consisting of..." acts like a restrictive clause, similar to "man being a member of a chain that consists of animals..." --this is the meaning you intend, I believe.

Sorry if this explantion is strange, but that comma creates "paralell structure" and puts "being a member of a chain" on the same level as "consisting of..." in terms of modifying "man."
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