[General] standing up and then forgetting the question

Status
Not open for further replies.

kompstar

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
"I made an ass of myself at the meeting—standing up and then forgetting the question."


If "...standing up and then forgetting the question." is abbreviation for "I was standing up and then I was forgetting the question" <- in other words Is it Past Continuous?
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
I would call "standing" and "forgetting" present participles there.
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Well, it differentiates it from the past participle.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Is "...standing up and then forgetting the question." an abbreviation for "I was standing up and then I was forgetting the question"?


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


Hello, Kompstar:

A teacher has already answered you. I just wanted to expand on the answer.

In my opinion, "Standing up and then forgetting the question" is NOT a shorter way to express the past progressive. I believe that it is accurate to say that "I was forgetting the question" is not natural English.

Please look at these examples that I found in a very reliable book:

1. "He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him."
2. "He walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him."

What do you think?

Is it possible that the "original" sentence was something like: "I stood up and then forgot the question. I made an a-- of myself."

Using the participle, we get one smooth sentence: "I made an a-- of myself, standing up and then forgetting the question."

In fact, if you rearrange the words, maybe this idea becomes clearer: Standing up and then forgetting the question, I made an a-- of myself.


(IF I have understood him correctly, I wish to credit L.G. Alexander's Longman English Grammar, 1988.)
 

tzfujimino

Key Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2007
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Japanese
Home Country
Japan
Current Location
Japan
Well, it differentiates it from the past participle.

... and the word 'past' in 'past participle' has nothing to do with the past tense.
:)
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
I would call "standing" and "forgetting" present participles there.
That's right, and "standing up and then forgetting the question" is a participial phrase.
 

kompstar

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
Thank you for all your answers.
 

Rover_KE

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jun 20, 2010
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
Your clicks on Post Thanks are all the thanks we need.
 

kompstar

Member
Joined
Jan 11, 2015
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Polish
Home Country
Poland
Current Location
Poland
Your clicks on Post Thanks are all the thanks we need.

I understand.

I have one more (the last) question. I've found such sentence "Most people are against bringing back the death penalty." Am I right that the word "bringing" is present participle?
 

MikeNewYork

VIP Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Academic
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
No. "Bringing" is a gerund there. It acts as a noun in that use.
 

TheParser

VIP Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Member Type
Other
Native Language
English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Hello, Kompstar:

May I just expand on the teacher's excellent answer?

1. You know that the word "against" is a preposition.

a. You also know that one needs a (pro)noun after a preposition.

2. The teacher reminded us that the -ing word is a noun (gerund).

3. My teachers told me that you can "prove" this by substituting an ordinary noun. For example:

a. "Most people are against the return of capital punishment."

4. A personal example: I am constantly fighting against eating too much ice cream. (It is so delicious!) / I am constantly fighting against the consumption of too much ice cream.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top