Jonathan_Lee6032
Member
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2021
- Member Type
- Interested in Language
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
Much appreciated!
I see. I agree with the interpretation by most people here, interpreting "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities" as "The teachers like it when students are participating in the activities", Actually, I came up with the proposition of the reduction of relative clause to present participle after looking up the word keen in some dictionaries. One of the sentence, as shown in the following, is provided by Cambridge dictionary:
He's rather keen on a girl in his school.
As is well known, the only way to thoroughly interpret the sentence in this thread requires "a context"; however, there is only one single sentence here, which leaves much room for discussion contextually. I thought to myself: what if the sentence "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities" appears in the news report regarding the improper teacher-student relationship (let's ignore how ridiculous the matter is)? Under the circumstances, "taking part in" may be a reduced present participle from the relative clause of either "who take" or "who are taking" (the meaning of which will be illustrated below), am I right?
Glad I'm on the same page with native speakers.
The reduction of relative clause does not make any sense in this case, for "...students working hard", "...students who work hard", and "...students who are working hard" have their own meaning respectively, right?
(1) I like (the) students working hard --> I like it when students work hard
(2) I like (the) students who work hard --> I like those diligent students (WITH the function to identify which students)
(3) I like (the) students who are working hard --> I like those students who are diligent NOW or in a PARTICULAR moment (also WITH the function of identify which students and with much emphasis on the continuousness of the state)
By the way, speaking of "the state", the reason why I asked if the interpretation of Ving has anything to do with the verb is that the phrase "are keen on" is the verb that expresses the state of the speaker, so do "are tired of", "like", "hate", "dislike", to name just a few. I was wondering whether "taking part in" would have the identifying meaning if I change the verb phrase "are keen on" into some action verbs, for instance, "chaperone", "praise", or "accompany", as:
The teachers chaperone the students taking part in the activities.
The reduction of either "who take" or "who are taking" would make sense this time, right? ("... taking part in..." here legit has the identifying meaning)
Thank you for your kind help! Please correct me anytime when there is something wrong. Thank you soooo much!
Back to the sentence of this thread "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities", the reduction doesn't work out here because the following three sentences have different interpretations:
(1) The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in the fact that students participate in the activities. (NO identifying meaning involved)
(2) The teachers are keen on the students who take part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in those students and those students participate in the activities. (WITH the identifying meaning and emphasis on the FACT)
(3) The teachers are keen on the students who are taking part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in those students and those students are NOW participating in the activities. (WITH the identifying meaning as well as the emphasis on the "progressive" in a particular moment)
As a second language learner, I really value the opinion of native speakers for the interpretation! I would like to ask: as a native speaker, what do you think about the explanation of the reduction (from "who take" to "taking" because of the active voice) given by the English teachers I encountered? Is it "That's not a thing!", "It's debatable!", or just "Nonsense!"?
That's so true. It is the context that helps the reader get the whole picture of what the author intended to express.
Again, thank you so much for your patience and kindness.
I see. I agree with the interpretation by most people here, interpreting "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities" as "The teachers like it when students are participating in the activities", Actually, I came up with the proposition of the reduction of relative clause to present participle after looking up the word keen in some dictionaries. One of the sentence, as shown in the following, is provided by Cambridge dictionary:
He's rather keen on a girl in his school.
As is well known, the only way to thoroughly interpret the sentence in this thread requires "a context"; however, there is only one single sentence here, which leaves much room for discussion contextually. I thought to myself: what if the sentence "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities" appears in the news report regarding the improper teacher-student relationship (let's ignore how ridiculous the matter is)? Under the circumstances, "taking part in" may be a reduced present participle from the relative clause of either "who take" or "who are taking" (the meaning of which will be illustrated below), am I right?
Glad I'm on the same page with native speakers.
The reduction of relative clause does not make any sense in this case, for "...students working hard", "...students who work hard", and "...students who are working hard" have their own meaning respectively, right?
(1) I like (the) students working hard --> I like it when students work hard
(2) I like (the) students who work hard --> I like those diligent students (WITH the function to identify which students)
(3) I like (the) students who are working hard --> I like those students who are diligent NOW or in a PARTICULAR moment (also WITH the function of identify which students and with much emphasis on the continuousness of the state)
By the way, speaking of "the state", the reason why I asked if the interpretation of Ving has anything to do with the verb is that the phrase "are keen on" is the verb that expresses the state of the speaker, so do "are tired of", "like", "hate", "dislike", to name just a few. I was wondering whether "taking part in" would have the identifying meaning if I change the verb phrase "are keen on" into some action verbs, for instance, "chaperone", "praise", or "accompany", as:
The teachers chaperone the students taking part in the activities.
The reduction of either "who take" or "who are taking" would make sense this time, right? ("... taking part in..." here legit has the identifying meaning)
Thank you for your kind help! Please correct me anytime when there is something wrong. Thank you soooo much!
Back to the sentence of this thread "The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities", the reduction doesn't work out here because the following three sentences have different interpretations:
(1) The teachers are keen on the students taking part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in the fact that students participate in the activities. (NO identifying meaning involved)
(2) The teachers are keen on the students who take part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in those students and those students participate in the activities. (WITH the identifying meaning and emphasis on the FACT)
(3) The teachers are keen on the students who are taking part in the activities --> The teachers are interested in those students and those students are NOW participating in the activities. (WITH the identifying meaning as well as the emphasis on the "progressive" in a particular moment)
As a second language learner, I really value the opinion of native speakers for the interpretation! I would like to ask: as a native speaker, what do you think about the explanation of the reduction (from "who take" to "taking" because of the active voice) given by the English teachers I encountered? Is it "That's not a thing!", "It's debatable!", or just "Nonsense!"?
That's so true. It is the context that helps the reader get the whole picture of what the author intended to express.
Again, thank you so much for your patience and kindness.
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