participal or gerund

[Taka]

The sentences:

I myself wavered between a number of dreams when I was young: wishing to follow in th footsteps of Christ or Albert Schweitzer and go off to Africa to save the masses of starving poor there; wanting to become a great author and write novels that would teach people the meaning of life; and longing to travel around the world and explore exotic lands.

About "wishing", "wanting", and "longing", are they participals or gerunds? IMO, they are all gerunds, but I'm not very confident...

 

[allei78]

they are all gerunds. remember a verb + ing is considered as a noun if it is the subject of the verb, the object of the verb, or the object of the preposition.

allei :wink:

The sentences:

I myself wavered between a number of dreams when I was young: wishing to follow in th footsteps of Christ or Albert Schweitzer and go off to Africa to save the masses of starving poor there; wanting to become a great author and write novels that would teach people the meaning of life; and longing to travel around the world and explore exotic lands.

About "wishing", "wanting", and "longing", are they participals or gerunds? IMO, they are all gerunds, but I'm not very confident...

 

[Tdol]

Their all gerunds there, IMO. I'd say they were dependent on the preposition 'between'. ;-)

 

[Taka]

I'd say they were dependent on the preposition 'between'. ;-)

So would I.

tdol, if there were a comma instead of a colon before "wishing", do you think you can still easily understand it as a gerund?

As far as I'm concerned, if it were a comma, I would be in great confusion.

 

[Tdol]

It shouldn't be a comma there, but I suppose some might use one. This, however, would be due to ignorance; many British have little idea about punctuation. ;-)

 

[Taka]

It shouldn't be a comma there, but I suppose some might use one. This, however, would be due to ignorance; many British have little idea about punctuation. ;-)

Right. It shouldn't be a comma there. But suppose if it were a comma. Then do you think it's possible to take "wishing" as a participal? Or do you think whether it's a colon or a comma, "wishing" cannot be a participal?

 

[Taka]

tdol?

 

[Ulli]

It shouldn't be a comma there, but I suppose some might use one. This, however, would be due to ignorance; many British have little idea about punctuation. ;-)

Hello tdol,

Where can I find "easy" comma rules :?: :idea:

 

[Tdol]

Try 'Mind the Stop'. I enjoyed the bestselling 'Eats, shoots and leaves', too. ;-)

 

[Taka]

Try 'Mind the Stop'. I enjoyed the bestselling 'Eats, shoots and leaves', too. ;-)

:?: :?: Is that an answer for my question, or for Ulli's?

 

[Casiopea]

Their all gerunds there, IMO. I'd say they were dependent on the preposition 'between'. ;-)

Ooh. I'd say it's fairly tell-tale given the phrase "a number of dreams".

I myself wavered between a number of dreams when I was young: (1) wishing to follow in th footsteps of Christ or Albert Schweitzer and go off to Africa to save the masses of starving poor there; (2) wanting to become a great author and write novels that would teach people the meaning of life; and (3) longing to travel around the world and explore exotic lands.

In terms of punctuation, I'd question the use of the second semi-colon. A comma is all that's needed.

..of life, and longing to travel....