[Grammar] Is marching an Adjective or verb in [your honour keeps us marching strong]

[Lumia625]

Hello,

I want to know that if "marching" in the sentence below is an Adjective or a verb? If it plays Adjective role in the sentence then I think it must have been written as "Keeps our marching." I'm confused!

Your courage and your honour keeps us marching strong

Thank you in advance,

 

[tzfujimino]

It's a present participle, not an adjective.
The 'strong' in that sentence seems to be used as an adverb.

:-D

 

[Lumia625]

It's a present participle, not an adjective.
The 'strong' in that sentence seems to be used as an adverb.

:-D

Yeah, you are right. I knew that after some verbs such as "keep," we have to use gerund, like Keep forgetting. But when I put "marching" in the Google translate last night, it translated "marching" into Persian as an Adjective! So I decided to be sure about it.

Do you think can I rephrase the original sentence like the following one?

Your courage and your honour keeps our marching strong.

 

[Lumia625]

Where did you read this sentence?

I read it in the lyrics of a song.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I apologize, but this thread reminded me of Firesign Theater, a favorite of mine in college.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLToWNAaEF8

 

[tzfujimino]

Do you think can I rephrase the original sentence like the following one?

Your courage and your honour keeps our marching strong.

I was thinking about that sentence, actually.
I think it's grammatically possible, but it would be unnatural.

 

[Raymott]

Do you think can I rephrase the original sentence like the following one?

Your courage and your honour keeps our marching strong.

You could, but that's not the meaning. It keeps them marching strongly. It does not ensure that their marching is strong.
"Marching" is a present participle, not a gerund.

 

[Matthew Wai]

It's a present participle, not an adjective.

I think the present participle acts as an adjective modifying the pronoun before it, but I am not a teacher.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Lumia:

I have found a somewhat similar sentence in one of my favorite books:

"They kept us working all day."

The book makes these points:

1. "us" is the direct object of "kept."
2. "working all day" is an adjectival phrase that describes "us." ("working" is a participle.)
3. The book calls "working all day" an objective complement. It "completes" the meaning of the "object." That is to say, "They kept us _____." (What?)


Congratulations on wanting to speak correct English, but -- as the other posters have already told you -- you should use possessive adjectives only with gerunds, NOT participles.

For example, I could have written :"Congratulations on your wanting to speak ...."

When you get time, you may wish to review the uses of participles and gerunds. It IS very confusing.


Source for that sentence: Walter Kay Smart, English Review Grammar (copyright 1940 - 1968).

 

[tzfujimino]

You could, but that's not the meaning. It keeps them marching strongly. It does not ensure that their marching is strong.
"Marching" is a present participle, not a gerund.

Ah, I see.
The 'strong' in that sentence is a bit tricky.

1. Your courage and your honour keep(s) us marching strong (=strongly).
2. Your courage and your honour keep(s) our marching strongly.

Is #2 acceptable? Does it convey the same meaning as #1?

 

[Raymott]

No, in 2. 'strong' has to be an adjective. "It keeps it strong".
Another example: "Yoga keeps our breathing regular." It maintains regular breathing. (Not 'regularly')

You are right about 1. 'Strong' is used for 'strongly' - an adverb.