Here are 3 model sentences:
#1. I spent the morning smiling.
#2. I have trouble dancing in the dark.
#3. I spent the weekend building a
shed.
What are those "ing"
words? They're not gerunds used as direct objects; "morning," "trouble,"
and "weekend" seem to be the direct objects.
-Possible explanation A: Participles that are
oddly placed? (smiling I, dancing I, building I)
-Possible explanation B: Are they gerunds in
understood prepositional phrases that serve as adverbs to modify the
verb?
I
spent the morning [in] smiling
I have trouble [with] dancing in the dark.
I
spent the weekend [in] building a shed.
-Possible explanation C: Some sort of obscure direct
object? (Doesn't really fit the definition or word order - IO
before DO).
-Possible explanation D; A Latinate
structure. For example, ablative absolute in Latin becomes a
nominative absolute in English. Although the Latin specifications for an
ablative absolute seem to fit, the English versions provided on the
web don't fit the model.
With sincere thanks for any
light you can shine on this mystery,
Maureen