Woman cooking in kitchen

[white.rose]

Hi,

This phrase is a prediction in Google search box. And I am wondering is it correct phrase? Because it has not verb "to be". Also, I would like to know the the parts of speech in this phrase.

Thank you in advance,

 

[MikeNewYork]

This sounds more like a photo caption. It not only lacks a verb, it lacks articles.

 

[white.rose]

What do you mean by that? Do we use this kind of structure somewhere else? Why is it written like that?

 

[MikeNewYork]

As I said, as written it would be a caption for a photo.

As a sentence it would be "This is a woman cooking in a kitchen."

 

[Barb_D]

Cooking is certainly a verb. It does sound like a caption.

 

[Tdol]

What do you mean by that? Do we use this kind of structure somewhere else? Why is it written like that?

When writing things like headlines and captions, we often omit words like articles and auxiliary verbs to save space and focus on the meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the Google search box, when you start typing, it starts to suggest things that other people have searched for which seem to be connected to your search. Even though (on this forum) I write in full sentences, if I'm searching Google I simply use the keywords. If I was looking for a photograph of a woman cooking something in her kitchen, I would go to Google and simply type in "woman cooking kitchen". That's the important information as far as Google is concerned. That is generally how people search in Google. I wouldn't type in "Please show me photographs of a woman cooking in a kitchen".

As the others have said, photograph captions aren't usually written in full sentences. Underneath such a photo, I would expect to see, at the most "Woman cooking in [her] kitchen", not "This is a picture of a woman cooking in her kitchen".

 

[white.rose]

I have a question regarding this sentence: "This is a woman cooking in a kitchen".

What is the part of speech of cooking?

 

[Matthew Wai]

A present participle modifying a noun.

Not a teacher.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

As another member has told you, it is a present participle, for some people feel that it is a shorter way to say: "This is a woman who is cooking in a kitchen."

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

If it had been, 'chicken cooking in kitchen' you'd expect to see a chicken being cooked, not a chicken doing the cooking.

'Woman cooking in kitchen' could also be misconstrued, but common sense should prevail.

 

[Matthew Wai]

It could be misconstrued as long as the context involves cannibalism.

Not a teacher.

 

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Some learners laugh when they hear something like: "The wife cooked her husband dinner."

 

[Tdol]

It could be misconstrued as long as the context involves cannibalism.

Very few contexts do involve cannibalism.

 

[white.rose]

Some learners laugh when they hear something like: "The wife cooked her husband dinner."​

So cooking is a verb, isn't it?

 

[white.rose]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Some learners laugh when they hear something like: "The wife cooked her husband dinner."

Why?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It could be part of a verb "is cooking" or just a present participle.

 

[TheParser]

Why?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

Because some (beginning) learners think that "her husband" is the direct object of "cooked."

Of course, the wife cooked dinner. ("Her husband" is the indirect object.)

To avoid any confusion, it might be clearer to say: "The wife cooked dinner for her husband."