Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

I don't quite understand the first part structure in the following sentence. Is it a correct pattern? Is it a correct sentence? Please help me understand it. What does it mean? Thank you very much.

The piece was bent from it hitting when we turned on the machine to test it.


Leslie
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Less Is Blessed

[CP]

It is a little strange. It would be easier to understand if it were

"The piece was bent from its hitting the floor [or something] when we turned on the machine to test it."

"The piece was bent from being hit when we turned on the machine to test it."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[leslie]

Thanks, CP, for your help!

But I'm quite puzzled by the usage of 'from +V-ing" here. Can 'from +V-ing" be used to mean 'by'? If my understanding of your sentences are correct, they both mean--the piece was bent because it was hit by something. Why can't the sentence be written as "The piece was bent because of hitting...." or "The piece was bent by hitting..."?

Is 'from +V-ing' a set-phrase to mean "caused by V-ing"? Is it frequently used in sentence pattern?

Thank you very much if you can elaborate.

Leslie
_________________
Less Is Blessed

[CP]

You can say "from hitting" and "by hitting," but your sentence wasn't written that way. Yours was "from it hitting," when at least it needed an "its" instead of "it" as well as some object of the hitting.

You can say / write:

"The bat was broken by hitting it against the concrete." "The bat was broken from hitting too many home runs."

"The nail was bent by hitting it with the hammer." "The nail was bent from hitting it with a hammer."

"The car's frame was bent by hitting the light pole." "The car's frame is bent from hitting the light pole."
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb