gerund vs participle

English grammar questions, answered by Alan

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NoName
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gerund vs participle

Post by NoName »

See the below sentence.

Living in a country as ethnically and hence culturally diverse as Trinidad and Tobago
, and being myself a blend of cultures, has been one of the most significant influences in my life.

The phrase 'and being myself a blend of cultures' is enclosed by commas so it could be regarded as inserted phrase
and if so, it might well be regarded as a participle phrase than a gerund phrase,
but it is natural that we should take it that the phrase is a gerund phrase when we interpret the given example.

1) If we treat the phrase as a participle phrase, is the conjunction followed by a participle phrase?
2) if we think of the phrase as a gerund phrase, is the phrase "Living in a country as ethnically and hence culturally diverse as Trinidad and Tobago, and being myself a blend of cultures"
the subject and why are the commas before 'and' and 'has' put in the phrase ?

In advance, thank for your help.
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Alan
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Re: gerund vs participle

Post by Alan »

'Living...' and 'being...' are both gerund phrases.
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