"the boy running" or "the running boy"

[YAMATO2201]

1) The running boy is my son. (Quoted from a textbook.)

This sentence sounds odd to me. I'd probably say:

2) The boy running is my son.
or
3) The boy who is running is my son.

Is sentence #1 natural?

 

[Tdol]

I'd probably say

Without some specialised context, you would be right to follow your instincts.

 

[YAMATO2201]

Without some specialised context, you would be right to follow your instincts.

"The running boy" reminds me of "a dancing girl (/dǽnsɪŋ gə̀ːrl/ not /dǽnsɪŋ gə́ːrl/)".

The "running" in "the running boy" seems to me to be a gerund (not a present participle), and the "the running boy" sounds to me like "the boy who has a job running", which is why "The running boy is my son" sounds odd to me.

 

[Rover_KE]

1) The running boy is my son. (Quoted from a textbook.)

What textbook, and in what context?

 

[YAMATO2201]

What textbook,

A textbook for Japanese junior high school students. I don't remember its title.

and in what context?

It's a stand-alone sentence.

 

[Rover_KE]

We need to know the grammar topic being discussed.

A textbook doesn't just print stand-alone sentences without any explanation.

 

[YAMATO2201]

We need to know the grammar topic being discussed.

I saw the sentence in the section on participles.

 

[teechar]

"The running boy" reminds me of "a dancing girl (/dǽnsɪŋ gə̀ːrl/ not /dǽnsɪŋ gə́ːrl/)".

The "running" in "the running boy" seems to me to be a gerund (not a present participle), and the "the running boy" sounds to me like "the boy who has a job running", which is why "The running boy is my son" sounds odd to me.

Those are still unnatural, regardless of context. In a general Google search, "the running boy" only got 15,000 hits, many of which were titles of fictional works.

Note, however, that something like "the cleaning lady" is possible, but there are not many such noun phrases.

 

[YAMATO2201]

1) The running boy is my son. (Quoted from a textbook.)

I just found the following sentence.

The swimming boy is my brother.
http://www.fdtext.com/txt/pdf2_ekoubun.pdf

 

[teechar]

You'll find all kinds of texts online. That, in itself, doesn't mean much.

 

[Tdol]

I just found the following sentence.

The swimming boy is my brother.
http://www.fdtext.com/txt/pdf2_ekoubun.pdf

Boy swimming works better for me.