Dear MikeNewYork

Originally Posted by I

Episode XIX – Brian hugging Michael in the street. ~~ Ahhh, by far and away one of my favorite endings. What really interests me (aside from how poignant it was), is the name of the group who does the song during this scene. It couldn't have been more perfect (Badly Drawn Boy), especially given the fact that Brian had actually been drawn at that point (by Justin).


1. The sentence Brian hugging Michael in the street used as the topic of the article??

2. So noun+ ving +noun ---->can used as a sentence, as noun, as individual, without following by clause or modifying some word?

3. Is it participle phrase or gerund phrase?

4. Is it the same case as "Michael and David disagree about Michael puttting up his posters"?

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

1. The title: Brian hugging Michael in the street is not a sentence. As with headlines, titles are often phrases instead of sentences.

2. Not in a complete sentence. To make that title a sentence, one would need to add "was" or "is" before "hugging". That would make a complete progressive verb "is/was hugging".

3. In my opinion, it is neither, although "hugging" is a participle. It is part of a progressive verb form [to be + present participle]. If one changed it to "Brian hugging Michael was a strange sight", then "hugging Michael" would be a participial phrase modifying "Brian".

4. No.

1. So you mean that I can't use the possessive form, and change it to "Brian's hugging Michael in the street." like the below case, right??

"Michael and David disagree about Michael puttting up his posters"
"Michael and David disagree about Michael's puttting up his posters"

2. You mean that I can't change it to "Brian's hugging Michael in the street.", because it is not the same style of phrase as " Michael puttting up his posters", is this right???

3. Is a progressive verb form [to be + present participle] the same as present continuous ??

4. If they (progressive verb form [to be + present participle], present continuous) are the same, and you said that "Brian hugging Michael in the street" is part of a progressive verb form [to be + present participle]. Can I use the full version "Brian is hugging Michael in the street" instead of "Brian hugging Michael in the street" in the above article?? Is it unnatural??

[MikeNewYork]

[quote="wendy"]

Originally Posted by I

Episode XIX – Brian hugging Michael in the street. ~~ Ahhh, by far and away one of my favorite endings. What really interests me (aside from how poignant it was), is the name of the group who does the song during this scene. It couldn't have been more perfect (Badly Drawn Boy), especially given the fact that Brian had actually been drawn at that point (by Justin).


1. The sentence Brian hugging Michael in the street used as the topic of the article??

2. So noun+ ving +noun ---->can used as a sentence, as noun, as individual, without following by clause or modifying some word?

3. Is it participle phrase or gerund phrase?

4. Is it the same case as "Michael and David disagree about Michael puttting up his posters"?

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

1. The title: Brian hugging Michael in the street is not a sentence. As with headlines, titles are often phrases instead of sentences.

2. Not in a complete sentence. To make that title a sentence, one would need to add "was" or "is" before "hugging". That would make a complete progressive verb "is/was hugging".

3. In my opinion, it is neither, although "hugging" is a participle. It is part of a progressive verb form [to be + present participle]. If one changed it to "Brian hugging Michael was a strange sight", then "hugging Michael" would be a participial phrase modifying "Brian".

4. No.

1. So you mean that I can't use the possessive form, and change it to "Brian's hugging Michael in the street." like the below case, right??

"Michael and David disagree about Michael puttting up his posters"
"Michael and David disagree about Michael's puttting up his posters"

It is uncommon in titles/scenes to use the possessive and gerund. They uase a shorthand such as:

John walking down the street.
Snow falling in Vermont.
Dog barking at children.

2. You mean that I can't change it to "Brian's hugging Michael in the street.", because it is not the same style of phrase as " Michael puttting up his posters", is this right???

Yes. The rules for headlines and titles are a bit different.

3. Is a progressive verb form [to be + present participle] the same as present continuous ??

A progressive verb is the same as a continuous verb. Both can be in different tenses.

4. If they (progressive verb form [to be + present participle], present continuous) are the same, and you said that "Brian hugging Michael in the street" is part of a progressive verb form [to be + present participle]. Can I use the full version "Brian is hugging Michael in the street" instead of "Brian hugging Michael in the street" in the above article?? Is it unnatural??

That would make it a complete sentence. It is grammatical, but it is a deviation for that form of expression. Titles are usually small descriptions of the action and are not intended to be complete sentences. :wink: