with active single completed actions

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aysaa

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billmcd

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Hi,

Random Idea English: Reduced relative clauses - lesson and exercises

With active single completed actions

1-The boy who fell off his bicycle broke his leg.

2-The boy falling off his bicycle broke his leg.

Please can you tell me why the 2 is wrong? I have been searching for this in Google, but I could't find it.

Thanks.

I am not necessarily a purist when it comes to English grammar, and so I don't find #2 "wrong". Although it is unlikely that the boy in your example would have broken his leg during the fall, which "falling off" suggests to me, I think it would be understood by most to mean as a result of the fall. Using another example, "The boy falling off (i.e. during the fall) lost his hat", for me, would be more logical and grammatically OK.

 

Raymott

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Hi,

Random Idea English: Reduced relative clauses - lesson and exercises

With active single completed actions

1-The boy who fell off his bicycle broke his leg.

2-The boy falling off his bicycle broke his leg.

Please can you tell me why the 2 is wrong? I have been searching for this in Google, but I could't find it.

Thanks.
You can say, "The boy broke his leg falling off his bicycle."
The way you have written it sounds as though your are referring to a boy who is currently falling off his bike.
 
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