Adverb Phrases

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Bakbari
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Adverb Phrases

Post by Bakbari »

I've got two requests regarding adverb phrases:
  • 1. As you know an adverb phrase is sometimes a reduced form of an adverb clause in which subordinating conjunction is maintained but the subject and any auxiliary verbs are deleted, and the main verb is changed to an -ing form or left as a past participle.
    Examples:
    • * After they returned to the US, they… => After returning to the US, they…

      * How many of us would do the same thing if we were given the chance? => …if given the chance?
    Now I want you to reduce the adverb clause in following complex sentence to a phrase:
    If the stopped, the risked a potentially deadly confrontation with criminals.

    2. Make the adverb phrase negative:
    With Nicholas lying on his deathbed, Maggie decided that something good ought to come out of this situation.
    Without Nicholas lying… or With Nicholas not lying…
Thank you in advance
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Joe
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Re: Adverb Phrases

Post by Joe »

The sentence is not English:
If the stopped, the risked a potentially deadly confrontation with criminals.

Perhaps you mean:
If they stopped, they risked a potentially deadly confrontation with criminals.
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Joe
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Re: Adverb Phrases

Post by Joe »

Subject to the exact context, the following sounds more natural:
With Nicholas no longer lying...
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Bakbari
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Re: Adverb Phrases

Post by Bakbari »

I'm genuinely grateful for your informative response.

Yes, it was a just a slight slip: "They" is the correct word. So how can we reduce it?

About the second question, your sentence seems perfectly plausible, however, between the two options I mentioned which one would you choose?
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Tukanja
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Re: Adverb Phrases

Post by Tukanja »

This might be a solution to what you've asked a question for

Given the chance many of us would do the same.
Having returned to the US they started to learn about Bosnia history.
YourUSApal
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Re: Adverb Phrases

Post by YourUSApal »

You are exploring some very complex usages! With #2 I'm not sure what you want to say, since you wouldn't say that someone was not lying on their death bed.

For the first sentence, you could say

"Stopping would pose a risk of a potentially deadly confrontation with criminals."
You can't really reduce that sentence significantly and also preserve the meaning.

I hope this helps. Best wishes.
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