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[welkins2139]

Ray Allen was added to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster by commissioner David Stern on Wednesday, replacing injured Washington forward Caron Butler.


I dont understand the time sequence of the sentence.

Which action occur first?

Thank you

[rice07]

'replacing injured Washington forward Caron Bulter' is a kind of participial structure of non-restrictive clause(=who replaced injured Washington forward Caron Bulter) referring to Ray Allen.

[welkins2139]

Thank you very much, 07rice

Replacing injured Washington forward Caron Butler, Ray Allen was added to the Eastern Conference All-Star roster by commissioner David Stern on Wednesday.

Can the particple structure put at the beginning since it modfied Ray Allen?

I think it is confused when the structure was in the back because I thought it modified David Stern.

But if in the back, which meant that some one added Ray Allen on the list first, then he replaced Butler. Therefore, I think there is some tense sequence on the sentence.

[rice07]

Hi Welkins2139

Please note those commas in the following sentences for example 2a and 2b.

1. Yesterday I met a girl who said that she loved John very much.(restrictive clause)('who said ... much' refers to 'a girl')

= Yesterday I met a girl saying that she loved John very much.
('saying that ... much' refers to 'a girl')

2a. Yesterday I met a girl, who said that she loved John very much.(non-restrictive clause)
('who said ... much' refers to 'a girl')

2b. Yesterday I met a girl, saying that she loved John very much.(This sentence has a different meaning from 2a because in this case 'saying that ... much' refers to subject ' I ' not refer to 'a girl')

But if the structures for non-restrictive clauses were 'who/which + be + noun', we could transform them into participial structures to refer to the antecedents like the following:

3. I met John, who is a good friend of mine.
('who is ... mine' refers to 'John')

= I met John, a good friend of mine.
( John= a good friend of mine)

4. He works hard, which is a fact that is known to us.
( 'which is ... us' refers to 'He works hard')

=He works hard, a fact that is known to us.

=He works hard, a fact known to us.
( 'a fact known to us' refers to 'He works hard')

5. As to your confusion about whether you could place 'replacing injured Washington forward Caron Bulter' at the beginning of that sentence? to be frank with you, I'm not so sure about it. But if you could, then I would assume 'replacing' was a gerund not a present participle. However, the better way, I would say: To replace injured Washington forward Caron Bulter, Ray Allen ... . This point, maybe we need some precise elaboration from native speakers due to my limited ability in English. I'm also an English learner who trys doing my best to help others as possible as I can, because - One for all, and all for one. Finally, some cases confusing during the learning process are necessarily to happen to everyone, me included( I'm confused about some cases too). Let's hang in there!

Hope that helps!

BTW, allow me to digress for a moment- Are you from Taiwan? If your answer was - yes, then I would recommend an understandable and useful grammar book to you because it was written in chinese.

[welkins2139]

Thank you very much, rice07

That is a very good explanation. Now I understand non-restrictive clause functions more.

Sorry, I am not from Taiwan.

BTW, Can you tell me what this 'one for all, all for one 'mean? I've heard it before but I dont known what it meant. Yes, I think I heard it in a Three Musketers movie.

[rice07]

Hi Welkins2139

Sorry for my mistake to that motto!

It sould be' One for all, and all for one ' or ' All for one, and one for all '. Here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Musketeers is for your reference


I tried googling that motto for its English definition but failed. So please make do with my understanding of it until someone knowing it offers us the more precise definition.

My understanding of it is ' If you provided your help for those who needed help, then they would treat you like the way you did to them in return, especially when next time you needed help too.

BTW, I'm a little confused about why the name of that story was The Three Musketeers rather than The Three Swordmen, as the weapons they mostly used seemed to be swords not long guns. Could anyone help me with this point? Many thanks!

[welkins2139]

Hi Rice07,

You said that you would recommend a good grammar book in Chinese for me, which one is it? I really like to know? Even though I am not living in Taiwan, I probably can get it online.

Thank you very much

[rice07]

Hi Welkins2139

Long time no see!

I'm glad to hear you considering having a look at that book. I hope you don't mind my asking, but do you read Chinese( the premise to realize what the book said is that you have to be able to read Chinese)?

I'm afraid it's impossible for you to get one English version for the book, even at online bookstores, because the author, a Taiwanese, whose intention of writing this book focused on those consumers who were Chinese wanting to advance their ability in English grammar, therefore, most of the concepts of English grammar in the book were conveyed in Chinese. The reason I really don't know how to make a response when you asked me for what's the name of the book, is that , as far as I know, there seems to have no English name for it. But I can give you its name in Chinese and I hope it can be exactly displayed on your computer screen.

Author: 賴世雄
Press: 常春藤解析英語雜誌社
Book Name: 常春藤英文文法

BTW, taking, grammar, as a tool for inspiring and forming your concepts of English rather than for confining yourself to it would be a happier way during your learning process . That's my opinion to share, despite the fact I'm not up to the grade over English.

One thing I'm curious about-- Are you from China? If so, maybe you could find one in GB2312(簡體中文), because Mr. Lai(賴世雄), to the best of my knowlege, also managed his business of materials for English learning in China.

Good luck!

[welkins2139]

Hi rice07,

Yes, I read Chinese.

I will check if a Chinese book store has it in my city.

No, I am not from China. But I immigrated there to NYC.

I am really appreciated your information.

Thank you very much!