Children’s pictures decorated the walls of the classroom.

[99bottles]

Children’s pictures decorated the walls of the classroom.

I found this sentence on Longman. Shouldn't it be The walls of the classroom were decorated with children's pictures? Doesn't the first sentence sound like the pictures were conscious beings?

 

[5jj]

No. No.

If something decorates a place or an object, it makes it look more attractive.

Link

 

[jutfrank]

This is yet another example of the kind of sense that we've discussed in previous recent threads. The verb decorated is used here to express a state-of-affairs rather than any kind of action. No action means there's no agency (that's a technical term, which is basically what you mean when say 'conscious beings').

It's similar in this respect to covered and hung in The blanket covered the boy or The picture hung on the wall.

As I said before, this kind of meaning is very common in English.

 

[99bottles]

It's similar in this respect to covered and hung in The blanket covered the boy or The picture hung on the wall.

Speaking of hang, would you like to tell me your opinion about this sentence? Is it correct? If it is correct, why is hang in the past continuous form here?

She tugged a piece of string that was hanging down from the ceiling.

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[5jj]

'... was hanging' is past continuous.

 

[99bottles]

'... was hanging' is past continuous.

Sorry, that was a typo. I meant, why is it in the past continuous form?

 

[5jj]

It began to hang before she tugged it, and was still hanging at the moment she tugged it.

 

[99bottles]

It began to hang before she tugged it, and was still hanging at the moment she tugged it.

And why can't I say A picture was hanging on the wall?

 

[5jj]

You can.

 

[jutfrank]

Speaking of hang, would you like to tell me your opinion about this sentence? Is it correct? If it is correct, why is hang in the past continuous form here?

She tugged a piece of string that was hanging down from the ceiling.

Yes, it's correct. Remember that a writer selects a particular tense/aspect based on the meaning that he wishes to express. The meaning that the continuous aspect brings to a verb is that the action is progressive, and of limited duration. In this case, hanging is best understood as an active (not stative) verb.