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submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by Kalcifer@lemm.ee to c/english@lemmy.ca

For example:

It is a thing that works producing stuff.

This feels wrong to me, but I can't quite put my finger on what exactly is wrong about it. It seems like it's trying to be a participle phrase, but it's not necessarily modifying the current state of "it", and is, instead, describing what "it" is.

If it is, indeed, a participle phrase, then it should be able to be written as

Producing stuff, it is a thing that works.

But, to me, this doesn't seem correct either, so it leads me to believe that the very structure of the sentence is incorrect.

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[-] confluence@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Ok, how about doubling up on the present participles? "The thing is working, producing stuff."

this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
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English usage and grammar

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