Parser,
I have switched to another computer and, for the time being, do not have the program that I used to diagram. I'll have to look into getting it again.
In any case, you certainly have come up with interesting examples of syntax.
I am not sure what I would do with that one. What do YOU think?
Frank
Thank you for your kind note.
Well, "aged" is a participle being used as an adjective, so I guess
it refers to the subject. On the other hand, it is equivalent to
"at the age of 101." So I guess it could modify either the subject or
the verb. (One grammarian -- IF I understood him correctly -- says that
an adjective may occasionally modify a verb. He gives this example:
He was drowned
bathing in the river. He says this = He was drowned
while he was bathing in the river. Yes, "bathing" obviously refers to
"he," but -- as the GREAT George O. Curme points out -- it also has
connections to "was drowned.") Oh, I just remembered: our two
other heroes (House and Harman) say that if there is no comma, then
a participle belongs to the predicate -- not the subject. Wow! While
talking about this, I may (MAY) have hit upon the answer. What say
you?
James