Scott,

 

The comma certainly makes all the difference in your first and third
sentences, which are certainly not synonymous:

 

1.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him being
such a pig.
2.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him, being
such a pig.

 

To me the following groupings are more or less synonymous (a with b and
c, d with e and f):

 

a.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him being
such a pig.
b.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see his being
such a pig.  [a tad awkward for me]
c.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him in the
act of being such a pig.
	     
d.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him, being
such a pig.
e.	The boy, being such a pig, was very happy that his mother did
not see him.
f.	The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him, because
he was such a pig.

 

Dick Veit

 

________________________________

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Woods
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 2:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Clause or Phrase

 

Are these pairs basically synonymous to you and are they punctuated
correctly?

 

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him being such a pig.

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him eating so
greedily.

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him, being such a
pig.

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see him, being such a
duplicitous boy.

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see his being such a pig.

The boy was very happy that his mother did not see his bad behavior.

 

Scott Woods

 


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/