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#1
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| I am working on an extract from the novel Small Island by Andrea Levy (a highly recommendable book, by the way), looking particularly at adjectival modifiers. I have identified the participles "avoiding", "pulling" and "closed" in the following extract as adjectives (adjectival modifiers). I would be grateful if somebody would confirm this, or, if I am wrong, tell me how to analyse these sentences. I stepped back down two stepsavoiding a small lump of dog's-business that rested in some litter and leaves. I straightened my coat, pulling it closed where I had unfortunately lost a button. Thanks. |
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#2
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| Quote:
A truly adjectival (or 'adjunctive') participle phrase is quite distinctive in that it serves to identify a noun referent in the manner of a restrictive relative clause, as 'playing tennis' in The boy playing tennis is Peter. (= The boy who is playing tennis...) N.B. Adverbial (sometimes termed 'disjunctive') participle phrases are obligatorily set off by commas. I have inserted the missing comma before 'avoiding' in your text. |
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#3
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| Thank you for your quick and clarifying reply. I am also trying to understand the following sentence: It was true that some were missing, replaced by cardboard and strips of white tape. ("Some" referring to ornate pillars at the doorway of a house). As far as I can tell, "missing" has an adjectival function, following the linking verb "to be", but what is the function of the phrase "replaced by cardboard and strips of white tape"? Thanks. |
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#4
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| It is simply elliptical for 'and they had been replaced...' |
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