Sound can travel through water for enormous distances,
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Sat Apr 10, 2010 3:52 pm
ayushiiitm wrote:
Sound can travel through water for enormous distances,
Why are C &D not considered as run on sentence?
I am very curious to know the flaw in my reasoning
I am very curious to know the flaw in my reasoning
prevented from dissipating its acoustic energy as a result of
boundaries in the ocean created by water layers of different
temperatures and densities.
C. its acoustic energy prevented from dissipating by
D. its acoustic energy prevented from being dissipated as
a result of
It’s good to ask questions. Of course, GMAC has the final say but as far as I can tell they do obey grammatical principles…or else test takers could argue their scores.
Ok, so the definition of a run-on sentence (borrowed from Wikipedia)
A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses(that is, complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction.
Your right, the first part of the sentence is an independent clause (a clause that can stand by itself…subj and predicate). However, read the latter half of the sentence. Can this stand on its own? No it can’t; it relies on the dependent clause.
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Tue Apr 13, 2010 1:18 pm
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Fri Apr 16, 2010 6:58 am
Received a PM asking me to respond.
This is an OG question, so I can't discuss it directly, but I can discuss a similar sentence that I make up...
The debate here is between these two "types" of sentences:
1) Light can travel through space for huge distances, its energy prevented from dissipating by X.
2) Light can travel through space for huge distances, preventing its energy from dissipating by X.
Let's start with #1.
The word "prevented" can be a regular conjugated verb or it can be a participle. If it's a participle, it can be part of a verb form (with another conjugated verb before it) or it can indicate a modifier. Examples of the two verb options:
"prevented" as regular conjugated verb: I prevented my paper from blowing away.
Conjugated verb + "prevented" participle: My paper was prevented from blowing away. (The paper was prevented by me.)
Now, what is the difference in those two sentence constructions? The first is active; the second is passive. In the first, the subject (I) is doing the action (prevented). In the second, the subject (paper) is having the action performed on it (I'm still doing the preventing, not the paper).
Could I write: "The paper prevented from blowing away" - meaning, the paper prevented itself from blowing away? Nope. The paper can't prevent itself from blowing away. If we want to use "the paper" as the subject, we have to write this in passive voice.
So. Energy prevented from dissipating by X. Is that a sentence? Can the energy prevent itself from dissipating? No, again. If we want to use "energy" as a subject and have an independent clause here, we have to write this in passive voice, which would be "the energy WAS prevented from dissipating by X."
What does that mean? That word "prevented" is not a conjugated verb or part of a conjugated verb form in this sentence. Therefore, it's a modifier and the stuff after the comma in C is NOT an independent clause - it's the rest of the modifier.
Now, #2.
2) Light can travel through space for huge distances, preventing its energy from dissipating by X.
We have <independent clause>, <-ing modifier>. The -ing modifier needs to modify the preceding clause. Also, the modifier needs to follow from the independent clause; that is, something in the independent clause needs to be doing this "preventing." What is doing this preventing?
Argh. It's the stuff after the word "by." That's not part of the independent clause. Nothing in the independent clause is responsible for "preventing the energy from dissipating." This is a misplaced modifier.
If it's too confusing to understand based on the example above, try this:
Paper can fly through the air for huge distances, preventing it from falling by gusts of wind.
What's preventing the paper from falling? The gusts of wind. But the "preventing" has to refer to the stuff *before* the comma. Nothing *before* the comma is actually preventing the paper from falling.
This is an OG question, so I can't discuss it directly, but I can discuss a similar sentence that I make up...
The debate here is between these two "types" of sentences:
1) Light can travel through space for huge distances, its energy prevented from dissipating by X.
2) Light can travel through space for huge distances, preventing its energy from dissipating by X.
Let's start with #1.
The word "prevented" can be a regular conjugated verb or it can be a participle. If it's a participle, it can be part of a verb form (with another conjugated verb before it) or it can indicate a modifier. Examples of the two verb options:
"prevented" as regular conjugated verb: I prevented my paper from blowing away.
Conjugated verb + "prevented" participle: My paper was prevented from blowing away. (The paper was prevented by me.)
Now, what is the difference in those two sentence constructions? The first is active; the second is passive. In the first, the subject (I) is doing the action (prevented). In the second, the subject (paper) is having the action performed on it (I'm still doing the preventing, not the paper).
Could I write: "The paper prevented from blowing away" - meaning, the paper prevented itself from blowing away? Nope. The paper can't prevent itself from blowing away.
If we want to use "the paper" as the subject, we have to write this in passive voice.
So. Energy prevented from dissipating by X. Is that a sentence? Can the energy prevent itself from dissipating? No, again. If we want to use "energy" as a subject and have an independent clause here, we have to write this in passive voice, which would be "the energy WAS prevented from dissipating by X."
What does that mean? That word "prevented" is not a conjugated verb or part of a conjugated verb form in this sentence. Therefore, it's a modifier and the stuff after the comma in C is NOT an independent clause - it's the rest of the modifier.
Now, #2.
2) Light can travel through space for huge distances, preventing its energy from dissipating by X.
We have <independent clause>, <-ing modifier>. The -ing modifier needs to modify the preceding clause. Also, the modifier needs to follow from the independent clause; that is, something in the independent clause needs to be doing this "preventing." What is doing this preventing?
Argh. It's the stuff after the word "by." That's not part of the independent clause. Nothing in the independent clause is responsible for "preventing the energy from dissipating." This is a misplaced modifier.
If it's too confusing to understand based on the example above, try this:
Paper can fly through the air for huge distances, preventing it from falling by gusts of wind.
What's preventing the paper from falling? The gusts of wind. But the "preventing" has to refer to the stuff *before* the comma. Nothing *before* the comma is actually preventing the paper from falling.
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Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:22 am
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Fri Apr 16, 2010 7:24 am
C is NOT passive tense - that's why.
I was showing that it's not either active or passive - it's not in a conjugated verb form at all. It's just a participle alone, so it's a modifier.
I was showing that it's not either active or passive - it's not in a conjugated verb form at all. It's just a participle alone, so it's a modifier.
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Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:42 pm
Stacey, your explanation really helps! Thanks!! 
Can you explain how an intransitive verb or recognizing this may help or not help in solving this question? Is there a rule with transitive/intransitive that might make sentences like this more clear?
Can you explain how an intransitive verb or recognizing this may help or not help in solving this question? Is there a rule with transitive/intransitive that might make sentences like this more clear?
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Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:46 pm
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