I don't know the meaning of this sentensce

[yuyu0615]

I don't understand the meaning of this sentence.
"And the team says changes in time spent in light or dark environments influence eating habits."
in this sentence, I guess "changes" is Subject,"influence" is verb,"eating habits"is Object・・・
what does "in time" "spent" mean in this sentence?

 

[Khosro]

I don't understand the meaning of this sentence.
"And the team says changes in time spent in light or dark environments influence eating habits."

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I learn English and at the same time I teach English.
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Changes in time spent in light or dark environments =
Changes in time which is spent in light or dark environments

Time which is spent = the amount of time which you spend

Do you understand the meaning now?

But your question is not just about the meaning but also about the grammar. You say that you guess "changes" is the subject. No. Here subject is not just one word. Subject don't need to be one word. Here:

Subject = changes in time spent in light or dark environments.

I ask other members to help explain it more grammatically.

 

[yuyu0615]

Thank you for explaining this sentence.
I think "time spent" is the passive(sentence). after I read your answer.Is it correct?

 

[Khosro]

Thank you for explaining this sentence.
I think "time spent" is the passive(sentence). after I read your answer.Is it correct?

You're welcome.
First of all, it is not a sentence. "Changes in time spent in light or dark environements" is not a sentence. It is part of a sentence but it is not a sentence.
Second, "spent" itself is "past participle". "Past participle" has many applications, it can be used for "present perfect tense", "past perfect tense", "passive" , ... or as an adjective.
I can not tell you if we are dealing with a passive structure here or not, I just add "which is" to interprete it as passive.​

There are very good teachers here who could help you about it. wait!
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I learn English and at the same I teach English.
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[5jj]

"And the team says changes in time spent in light or dark environments influence eating habits."

I think "time spent" is the passive.[...]Is it correct?

You can think of 'time spent' as an ellipted passive construction: 'time (which is) spent";

or you can think of 'spent' as a past participle, with a passive meaning, used adjectivally.



ps: an ellipted construction is one in which a word or words have been omitted.

 

[5jj]

You say that you guess "changes" is the subject. No. Here the subject is not just one word. Subjects don't need to be one word. Here:

Subject = changes in time spent in light or dark environments.

You are right in a way, Khosro, though it is more usual to consider the grammatical subject to be the word or words (usually, but not always, nouns or pronouns) that relate to the verb.

Thus, in this sentence, changes is the grammatical subject (of the verb influence). in time spent in light or dark environments may be considered as'quailifying' or 'modifying' the subject, as 'extensions' of the subject, as parts of the 'Subject Phrase', or some other descriptive term, depending on the way you analyse the words.​

 

[Khosro]

Thank you Fivejedjon. I was thinking about including "subject phrase" in my explaination. What made me not to do it was that I was not sure if I should talk about "phrase" or "clause" to explain "changes in time spent in light and dark environement" the best way I can.

(I need the proper verb to substitute "made me not to do it" in the above paragraph, and also a better way to say "I was thinking about including".)

 

[yuyu0615]

Thank you

fivejedjon, thank you very much. I understand it.:up:

 

[5jj]

I was thinking about including "subject phrase" in my explaination. What made me not to do it was that I was not sure if I should talk about "phrase" or "clause" to explain "changes in time spent in light and dark environement" the best way I can.

(I need the proper verb to substitute "made me not to do it" in the above paragraph, and also a better way to say "I was thinking about including".)

'What made me not do it' sounds fine to me. If you want to sound more formal, you might consider using 'deter' or 'dissuade'.
I see nothing wrong with 'I was thinking about', though you might like to think about ;-) 'consider', 'debate', 'deliberate on'.