Titania

I was under the impression that progressive tense would be:
I am biting at my wrist. (present progressive)
or
I was biting at my wrist. (past progressive)

I think it's both a participle and a gerund actually... because participles can function either as adjectives or as nouns, can't they? ...Or is it only correct to call it a gerund when it's being used as a noun, and not if it's used as part of an adjective phrase?

Just trying to clear things up here, as now I'm confused about my terminology.

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Critique and ye shall be critiqued.

Ty_lol

Im starting to wish my parents made me read more as a child. I haven't enjoyed reading tell a few years ago. And that has helped my vocab. and spelling considerably. I kid you not, I had a 5th grade spelling level when I was a freshman in high school. Maybe reading more English books can help you with understanding grammer better. Just my 2 cents.

JerkInProgress

"Biting" is actually a participle (verbal adjective). A gerund is a verbal noun. The only way "biting" can function as a gerund is if you're referring to an incident where someone was bitten ("The biting occured in the Shoney's parking lot"). In my mind, turning a verb into an adjective weakens the action.

This is the first time I've ever used my college major outside of a cocktail party.

cbrmale

I'm a bit older, and in my day English grammar rules were taught with more precision. I do have a good grounding in parts of the theory of English (past participles and the like). But I also admit I haven't come across conjugating rules and gerunds in English before. But I have in French!

One rule of thumb is the sentence must 'seem' right. If you start with "Biting" and write the sentence and then read it back, if the rules haven't been followed, it will won't read well. Or the sentence will sound wrong or it will be ambigious in meaning. The other thing in creative writing is that it is permissable to break the rules of English from time to time, in order to keep the flow and rhythm going.

Remember that spoken and written English predates rules like gerunds. These rules came later as a guide to writing 'good' English. Sometimes we write less than textbook English, but it is the result that counts.

glennstewart

almost never do you want to start with a verb

bob rulz

I don't think there's any problem starting with a verb, just as long as you're able to finish the sentence correctly. Sometimes when you start with a verb you have troubles finishing off the sentence correctly, but if you can then it isn't a problem, imo.

I don't worry about all those technical English terms. They can get very confusing, but I have essentially flawless grammar even when it took me a lot of thinking and a few years to remember all of the differences between verbs, adverbs, and adjectives. I figure, if I have really good grammar why should I worry about learning the technical stuff? I still haven't figured out a good reason why I should.

Ruben

Can't you actually know if it goes or not by the sound of it?

I've always preferred logic over consulting a grammar book.

BryanBeasley

IMO, 'biting at his wrist' is perfectly fine if it's dialogue or first person narrative and consistent with the character's speech. Not everyone will agree with me on this.

Fossy

I personally hate a verb at the beginning of a sentence. For a second or two, I really don't know who's biting who, and that really, really annoys me. That's just my personal preference. And yes I've made the mistake often myself. Bite me.

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Originally posted by Sam Winchester.
Fossy's good too. She gives good advice.

Non Serviam

Wow, you bumped a fourteen month old thread for that?

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ClancyBoy

"Biting" is a gerund or a participle, and in this case it introduces an adverbial phrase. I don't think it's possible to start an English sentence with a verb.

...Unless it's a full sentence in the imperative voice with an understood "you," like this:

Run!

Edit: So so beaten.

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"Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons wait for you down there. Little pets they are, little little little pets. Cute little things, they say. Don't you believe it. No man ever saw them and walked away alive. You won't either. That's the final dash, flash. That's the utter clobber, cobber." --Cordwainer Smith, Norstrillia.

Rahvin

It can be done. In fact, I do it quite regularly. Take this from my story, Lord of Blood:


It can work. You just have to make sure the rest of the sentence is complete. I may not be the best person to explain this, since I just do this. Ak me a question about what all the terms and logic behind it are, and I'll be stumped. If it 'looks right', then it usually is.

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Fossy

I know, it's quite sad really. I was Googling gerunds and participles, just to try and get it fixed in my head, and it found this page. You know I didn't even look at the date until after I'd posted my reply.

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Originally posted by Sam Winchester.
Fossy's good too. She gives good advice.

geminye

Since the topic has been brought up again...

It is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with a verb while writing fiction. However, it makes it a "passive" sentence, which can weaken the strenght of the sentence, but gives it a feeling of poetry. As long as your writing isn't flooded with passive sentences, then all is well.

For example, you could say, "To untie the ropes, he bit at his wrists." Or, in a more passive way, "Biting at his writsts, he untied the ropes." Generally, the passive sentence will have a more artistic ring to it, but flood your story with it and it becomes tiresome to read. Be sure to have a good mix of active and passive, favoring the active, especially when trying to maintain cohesiveness. Just my opinion. Write on!

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Suffer the little children...

Fossy

That maybe true, and poetic and prosy and all that stuff, but I still hate not knowing who's biting who at the start of a sentence!

Also, if you have someone 'inging' at the start of a sentence, you run the risk of them doing two things at once - eg. Jumping of the back of the truck, he ran towards the gate to catch the horse, etc. hard to see how a person can jump off a truck and run at the same time.

In this instance, you can bite and look up at the same time, but you have to be careful with your ings. Me I hate them.

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Originally posted by Sam Winchester.
Fossy's good too. She gives good advice.