Rewriting the sentences (1)
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I'm using a textbook, but I don't have right answers.
I would like to check whether my answers are grammatically correct. I put the symbol (*) on the sentences I want to be corrected.
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Pick up the subject adjective clauses. Then rewrite the sentences with adjective phrases.
Here is an example written in the textbook.
Karlin also said blogs presented information and perspectives that were not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States.
The subject adjective clause:
that were not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States
Rewriting:
Karlin also said blogs presented information and perspectives not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States.
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Question 1
Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions that date back hundreds of years.
The subject adjective clause:
that date back hundreds of years
Rewriting:
(*) Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions dating back hundreds of years.
Question 2
Like hundreds of others who wanted to learn the names of the songs played, I turned to the Internet.
The subject adjective clause:
who wanted to learn the names of the songs played
Rewriting:
(*) Like hundreds of others wanting to learn the names of the songs played, I turned to the Internet.
Question 3
The scene was carried live via video from a bystander who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone.
The subject adjective clause:
who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone
Rewriting:
(*) The scene was carried live via video from a bystander playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone.
I would like to check whether my answers are grammatically correct. I put the symbol (*) on the sentences I want to be corrected.
--
Pick up the subject adjective clauses. Then rewrite the sentences with adjective phrases.
Here is an example written in the textbook.
Karlin also said blogs presented information and perspectives that were not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States.
The subject adjective clause:
that were not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States
Rewriting:
Karlin also said blogs presented information and perspectives not usually available in the mainstream media in the United States.
--
Question 1
Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions that date back hundreds of years.
The subject adjective clause:
that date back hundreds of years
Rewriting:
(*) Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions dating back hundreds of years.
Question 2
Like hundreds of others who wanted to learn the names of the songs played, I turned to the Internet.
The subject adjective clause:
who wanted to learn the names of the songs played
Rewriting:
(*) Like hundreds of others wanting to learn the names of the songs played, I turned to the Internet.
Question 3
The scene was carried live via video from a bystander who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone.
The subject adjective clause:
who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone
Rewriting:
(*) The scene was carried live via video from a bystander playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone.
who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone
All of your rewritten sentences are correct. :] The only thing I found was that, in the subjective adjective clause you've indicated here, you've included an extraneous preposition clause that wouldn't normally be considered part of the adjective clause.
Other than that, though, good job!
You're right. I got it.
Pick out the subject adjective clauses.
"Pick up" does not make sense to me here. Are the clauses lying on the floor, and you're picking them up literally, into your hand? None of the figurative meanings I'm familiar with make sense either. Are you trying to ask them out on a date? Are you driving a car and offering the clauses a ride?
(*) Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions dating back hundreds of years.
This sentence is correct, but "dating back hundreds of years" is a participial phrase, which is grammatically a little bit different (arguably) from the example given in the textbook.
I'm not sure, but it's possible that they intended for you to write "Many experts believe the answer is deeply embedded in traditions hundreds of years old."
Your sentence is also good, though. It's something a native speaker might write. We use participles all the time.
(*) Like hundreds of others wanting to learn the names of the songs played, I turned to the internet.
Again, this is a good sentence and is probably what a native speaker would write. Nonetheless, if they want you to change the verb into an adjective, like they did in the textbook example, it is possible:
"Like hundreds of others curious about the names of the songs played, I turned to the internet."
who was playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone
This is correct, and I don't know what Dre is on about. The prepositional phrase "by shooting the action" obviously modifies "playing" (answering the classic adverb question, "How?"), so it is clearly part of this clause. The other prepositional phrase, "with his portable camera phone", modifies "shooting" (again, telling _how_ he was shooting it), so it belongs here too.
(*) The scene was carried live via video from a bystander playing the role of journalist by shooting the action with his portable camera phone.
I don't even know how to write this one with adjectives instead of the participles (except perhaps by chopping it up into several shorter sentences, but that clearly was not the intention of the exercise). I think I'd have written it the same way you did.
"The scene was carried live via video from a bystander by shooting the action with his portable camera phone." What does "by shooting" modify now? It's adverbial, answering "How?" - prepositional phrases starting with "by" almost always answer the question "How?" (or "Where?" if "by" means "next to", but that's different) - so the prepositional phrase can't be modifying the bystander. (Adverbs can't modify nouns.) Grammatically it could modify "carried", but semantically "carried live via video by shooting" doesn't quite jive. Something is wrong: "by shooting" has lost its connection to the rest of the sentence, because it was originally part of another clause, which we've removed.
How should I say in this case?
> I was previously unfamiliar with the term "subject adjective clause".
It might be because this textbook was published in the UK, although the audio of this textbook sounds American English.
> Like hundreds of others curious about the names of the songs played, I turned to the internet
It is difficult to rewrite a sentence with other words you are not given because I don't have knowledge whether it is grammatically correct.
But I can ask it on Lang-8, so I should challenge, shouldn't I?
Oh. I almost corrected it to "underline" or "circle", because that's what a lot of school workbooks have students do. In more general terms, you could ask someone to "mark" or "locate" a particular item in a sentence.
> However, it's just a textbook, so it might sound redundant.
The sentences with participles are good sentences. I just wasn't entirely sure that's what they wanted you to use, because that's not what they did in the example.
> > I was previously unfamiliar with the
> > term "subject adjective clause".
> It might be because this textbook was published in the UK
It could also just be because different grammar books explore different details and use different terminology. With the examples, it was easy to figure out what kind of clause they meant.
And yeah, Oxford publishes some really good materials on the English language. The OED might be the most thorough dictionary ever compiled for any language.
> Oxford publishes some really good materials on the English language. The OED might be the most thorough dictionary ever compiled for any language.
I'm relieved to hear that, though I am using a Longman dictionary.
By the way, I didn't understand this sentence:
"because they printed four "pages", shrunk down, on every page."
It means, the original had a lot of pages, but your version was shrunk down. The pages was one of fourth?
In 1971, the 13-volume OED1 (1933) was reprinted as a two-volume, Compact Edition, by photographically reducing each page to one-half its linear dimensions; each compact edition page held four OED1 pages in a four-up ("4-up") format... [It] included, in a small slip-case drawer, a magnifying glass to help in reading reduced type.
There's a photo of what it looks like here:
http://nevalalee.wordpress.com/2011/12/22/the-oxford-english-addictionary/compact-oed1/
Mine is missing the magnifying glass, but I have never needed it anyway, because my eyes are good -- although I suppose that may change as I get older.
> pages in a four-up ("4-up") format
It's like a copy machine! I useually use 2-up when I print something with a copier. I got it. Thanks!