Participal

[RonBee]

I prefer:

• My old car, which breaks down every other week, won’t last much longer.

I think that is the most natural and easiest to understand.

I am not at all sure what a "full verb" is as I have never encountered that term before. Probably Tdol can provide additional help.

:)

[Tdol]

What I meant was we replace relative pronoun + main verbs with a present or a past participle, which carries the idea of the verb. ;-0

[Jesse Huang]

Here is my another question:

My old car, breaking down every other week, won’t last much longer.

How do we interprete this sentence when we see it?

(a)Because it breaks down every other week, my old car won’t last much longer.

or

(b)My old car, which breaks down every other week, won’t last much longer.

(In my opinion, they're somewhat different)

[Dianelys]

Hi, Jesse.

1. The young man, jogging every morning, is very strong.
2. My old car, breaking down every other week, won’t last much longer.

‘jogging every morning’ and ‘breaking down every other week’ are not (adverbial) clauses*. They are alternatives to relative clauses.

*In traditional grammar, a clause has its own subject and a finite verb (= full verb/a verb having tense). A clause can be defined as a grammatical unit operating at a level lower than a sentence but higher than a phrase.

Alternatives to relative clauses

Sometimes, instead of a complete relative clause, we use shorter phrases in order to describe the subject in the main clause or to provide more information. These are like simplified forms of relative clauses.

In your examples,’ jogging’ and’ breaking (down )’ appear in their present participle form without a relative pronoun.


3. Here is another question:

My old car, breaking down every other week, won’t last much longer.

How do we interprete this sentence when we see it?

(a) Because it breaks down every other week, my old car won’t last much longer.
This is an adverbial clause of reason, that answers the question: Why do you think it won’t last much longer?
In your sentence, ’breaking down every other week’ is just additional information about your car, and not necessarily the cause of its final breakdown.
or

(b)My old car, which breaks down every other week, won’t last much longer.
This is a real relative clause and means the same as its alternative (breaking down….). It’s a question of style.

[Jesse Huang]

(Thanks for the answer, but I still have a question.)

My old car, breaking every other week, won’t last much longer.

Breaking every other week, my old car won’t last much longer.

Do the sentences above share the same meaning?

[Dianelys]

Q3: What is the meaning of full verbs? Please give me some examples

full verb: another term for lexical verb = a verb of a class that contains all verbs except MODAL and PRIMARY (auxiliary) verbs. Full verbs (or lexical verbs) constitute the majority of verbs. Formally they use auxiliary verbs in the formation of questions and negatives. Full verbs function as main verbs*, never as auxiliaries, and they can function alone.
EXAMPLES:
1. They seldom watch TV. - watch alone = present simple
2. They are watching TV right now. - are (auxiliary) + watching (main verb in present participle) = present continuous or progressive
3. Do you often watch TV? - do (auxiliary) + watch (main verb) = interrogative form of present simple
4. She watched TV last night. – watched (main verb, alone – in past simple)
5. I have not watched TV since last Friday. – have (auxiliary) + watched (main verb in past participle) = present perfect

*main verb is a verb functioning as the head of a verb phrase
In the verb phrases below, ‘watch’ is the main verb.It is used in different forms with auxiliaries like ‘be’, ‘have’ or a modal auxiliary: ‘will’.
is watching
was watching
has watched
has been watching
will watch
will be watching
will have watched, etc.

[Dianelys]

(Thanks for the answer, but I still have a question.)

My old car, breaking every other week, won’t last much longer.

Breaking every other week, my old car won’t last much longer.

Do the sentences above share the same meaning?

Not really. They have different meanings.

‘Breaking down every other week’, (…) is an –ing clause that explains why your old car won’t last much longer.
It can be replaced by clauses of reason:
1. As my old car breaks down every other week, it won’t last much longer.
2. Since my old car……………………………….., “
3. My old car won’t last much longer because it breaks down every other week.

As you can see, the position of this –ing construction can change the meaning.

[Jesse Huang]

Also, another question:(Just to make sure if I understand)

The plan, which replaces an earlier contentious plan to sell IMF gold on the oprn-market, was welcomed by US Treasury secretary.

The plan, replacing an earlier contentious plan to sell IMF gold on the oprn-market, was welcomed by US Treasury secretary.

They share the same meanings, right?

[Dianelys]

Also, another question:(Just to make sure if I understand)

The plan, which replaces an earlier contentious plan to sell IMF gold on the oprn-market, was welcomed by US Treasury secretary.

The plan, replacing an earlier contentious plan to sell IMF gold on the oprn-market, was welcomed by US Treasury secretary.

They share the same meanings, right?

Yes, they do.