All About English Creative Writing

[buds]

Thank you! :please:


See ya.. :peekaboo:

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

The Alternative Story:

It is grammatically wrong because when you say 'I did not expect this to be a lot more difficult' you should have a comparison at the back, 'a lot MORE difficult than something\". When you have the word 'more' in the sentence, you are making a comparison but in this sentence, it is not clear what the comparison is.

Hi TAS
Thank you for your reply,
It surely helps.

I’d like to go back to one of your earlier example.[quote]'I expected this to be a lot more easier'

Why is this sentence grammatically acceptable? It also consists of the word more.

Best wishes[/quote]Hi tianzhu,

Yes, it's true that there is no comparison at the back of the sentence. However, in this sentence, it is used in the context of a person engaging in an activity and finding that the activity that he was engaged in was harder that what he had expected. So the comparison is between his expectation and reality. It is implied and not specifically spelt out.

Comparison- What you expected (expectation was that it would be easy) and Reality (harder that what he thought it should be)

However, in the earlier example, \"I did not expect this to be a lot easier\", the comparison is not clear. Why is this so?

The sentence structure 'I did not expect this to be a lot easier' is a convoluted(difficult to understand) one. It is not very clear what the writer is trying to say. The sentence structure is confusing. Is he saying that he expected it to be easy or he expected it to be difficult?

An example of a convoluted sentence that is usually unacceptable:

- Unless you do not pass your exams, you will get a treat.

The correct version is:

- Unless you pass your examinations, you will not get a treat.

The first version is not acceptable because people get confused when they read it, it takes some time for your mind to get around it so it is a convoluted sentence and students are encouraged not to use them.

TAS

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

The Alternative Story:

[quote=\"tianzhu\"]Hi TAS


Removing his shirt, John rushed to the river.

Is Removing a gerund or participle?

Best wishes

Hi Tianzhu,

'Removing' here is an action, not a noun- it is not used as a name of an activity. Hence 'removing' is a verb (participle) not a gerund.

TAS

Hi TAS

Thank you for your reply.

I find it difficult to differentiate between gerunds and participles at times.

I can understand why removing is a participle as in the above example.
The participial phrase,Removing his shirt, functions as an adjective modifying John.

I would like to make a comparison with one of my earlier question.
[quote]We saw her talking to Alice last night.[/quote]Earlier, you’ve identified talking as a gerund.
Talking to Alice is a participial phrase which functions as an adjective describing what one is doing, in this case her.
Could you help to advise why talking is a gerund not a participle?

Best wishes[/quote]Hi tianzhu,

The main difference between a gerund and a verb (participle) is this: a gerund is a noun or a noun phrase. A verb is an action.

Nouns are either the subject or the object in a sentence.

An easy way to remember the difference between an object and a subject:

Subject: It 'performs' an action

Example: The BOY (subject) stole my shirt.

Object: It 'receives' an action

Example: The boy stole my SHIRT (object).

One easy way to identify a gerund is to see if it is used as either a subject or an object.

Examples of gerund/gerund phrases as subjects:

- Swimming is good for you.

- Running everyday helped me to stay in shape.

Here, the gerund/gerund phrases were 'performing' the actions in the sentences. They were the subjects of the sentence.

Examples of gerund/gerund phrases as objects:

- I hate running

- We should give writing more attention

- We saw her running.

The gerund/gerund phrases are 'receiving' the actions in the sentences. For example, the 'her running' is the object of 'saw'. Hence they are all objects.


Example of a verb:

- We were talking and running at the same time.

Here, the 'running' and 'talking' are not 'receiving' any action. They are the actions themselves. They are verbs.

So, a good way to differentiate is to always analyse if the word/phrase is an action or an object/subject.

So for your question:

- We saw her talking to Alice last night.

The 'saw her talking to Alice' is an object of 'saw'. It is a gerund phrase.

We hope this helps to clarify the issue

TAS

[tianzhu]

Hi TAS


Thank you for your reply.

Which one of the following sentences is correct? Or both are right?

1) John was sick because he ate some rotten apples.
2) John was sick because he had eaten some rotten apples.

Best wishes

[Herbie]

Hi TAS,


I have a S & T qn. Kindly advise.

The teacher punished the students. They had triggered the fire alarm.

____________________________________ who ________________________.

Is it correct to state " The students who had triggered the firm alarm, was punished by the teacher". ?

Many thanks!

[starlight1968sg]

Herbie:

Hi TAS,


I have a S & T qn. Kindly advise.

The teacher punished the students. They had triggered the fire alarm.

____________________________________ who ________________________.

Is it correct to state \" The students who had triggered the firm alarm, was punished by the teacher\". ?

Many thanks!

The teacher punished the students who had triggered the fire alarm.
(?)

[starlight1968sg]

tianzhu:

Which one of the following sentences is correct? Or both are right?
1) John was sick because he ate some rotten apples.
2) John was sick because he had eaten some rotten apples.
Best wishes

I think both make sense and unsure what is the main difference between these 2 sentences.
I would prefer (2).

[The Alternative Story]

tianzhu:

Hi TAS


Thank you for your reply.

Which one of the following sentences is correct? Or both are right?

1) John was sick because he ate some rotten apples.
2) John was sick because he had eaten some rotten apples.

Best wishes

Hi tianzhu,

The first answer is correct.

The second answer is using the past perfect tense (had eaten).

The past perfect tense is used in this way:

1) To indicate that one action occurred
before another action in the past.
The past perfect tense indicates the first of the 2 actions:

Example:

- When I went to the bus-stop, the bus had just left

- I had lived here since 1998 but moved away recently.

For your example:

John was sick because he ate some rotten apples.

The 'eating of rotten apples' explains why he is sick.
It does not indicate that one action has happened first.
It is a reason-result type of sentence.
It is not a sentence indicating the different timing of 2 actions.
Hence the past perfect tense should not be used.

TAS

[starlight1968sg]

The Alternative Story:

For your example:

John was sick because he ate some rotten apples.

The 'eating of rotten apples' explains why he is sick.
It does not indicate that one action has happened first.
It is a reason-result type of sentence.
It is not a sentence indicating the different timing of 2 actions.
Hence the past perfect tense should not be used.

TAS

I am unclear; isn't \"had eaten some rotten apples\" being the first and \"was sick\" the second action?
Thanks.

[The Alternative Story]

Herbie:

Hi TAS,


I have a S & T qn. Kindly advise.

The teacher punished the students. They had triggered the fire alarm.

____________________________________ who ________________________.

Is it correct to state \" The students who had triggered the firm alarm, was punished by the teacher\". ?

Many thanks!

Hi Herbie,

There are 2 correct answers to this question.
Starlight1968sg has provided one of them.
Your answer is also correct but with 2 common mistakes
made by students. It should be:

- The students who had triggered the fire alarm were
punished by the teacher.

The sentence is talking about the students being punished
so it is 'were' as there are many students.
Some students would put 'was' as they focus on
the 'fire alarm' and not 'the students'.

Usually, we do not encourage students to put in
any commas for questions like these as they tend to
make mistakes with that and would lose one mark
for wrong punctuation.

The correct use of the comma would be as such:

- The students, (who had triggered the fire alarm),
were punished by the teacher.

There must be 2 commas and the commas indicate
extra information (that has been bracketed) about the students.

TAS