I don't think it's a gerund phrase. It is not functioning as a noun.

 

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Phil Bralich
Sent: Sunday, March 12, 2006 2:58 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: What Is This?

 

The sentence as is is actually perfectly well formed with a gerund phrase as
its subject though the comma definitely does not belong there because you do
not separate a subject from its verb with a comma.  The reason for the
confusion I think comes from a nearly identical sentence with a reduced
adverb clause (participial phrase to some) in the beginning which would have
been better, as below

 

Running from the back of his skull down to the front, a patch of white hair
opens up into his lips.

These two forms are easily confused and often lead to that misplaced comma
because, in the sentence above, the one with the reduced adverb clause, the
comma is required.  I think if that comma were not there, one would'nt be so
automatically drawn to the reduced adverb clause construction, and the
confusion would be less.  

 

Phil Bralich

-----Original Message----- 
From: John Crow 
Sent: Mar 12, 2006 2:26 AM 
To: [log in to unmask] 
Subject: What Is This? 

A student wrote the following sentence in an essay:

Running from the back of his skull down to the front, is a patch of white
hair that opens up into his lips.
The comma doesn't belong there, but I'm not sure why.  Is the "Running"
phrase a gerund?  If so, then I understand why the comma is wrong:  it
separates the subject from the verb  However, the phrase doesn't behave like
a gerund.  Compare: 

Running around the lake is a part of my daily routine. --> It is a part of
my daily routine.  --> A part of my daily routine is running around the
lake.

In this sentence, the "Running" phrase behaves like a true noun phrase in a
linking verb sentence.  My student's "Running" phrase doesn't behave like an
NP.  It feels participial, modifying "patch".  If so, then the comma would
be correct.  But it's not. 

Any ideas out there?

John
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