I think Ed hit the nail on the head: Sometimes we're a little too concerned with
the little stuff.  The important thing is that we understand the grammar well
enough to analyze the structure.  I wrote the "phrase" in question on my board
today and offered it to my students for discussion.  I enjoyed listening to their
dialogue--that matters more than the answer we finally agree upon!
Dawn

Edward Vavra wrote:

> Kent,
>     I don't understand why it has to be considered either one or the
> other. Constructions often slide into one another, and it would seem to
> me that the example you give would be excellent for helping students
> understand this. For more on sliding constructions, see:
> http://home.pct.edu/~evavra/kiss/wb/IM/IM4_SlidingPOoSpeech.htm
> Ed V.
>
> >>> [log in to unmask] 01/26/04 07:16PM >>>
> "After dining, I went to the opera."
>
> Is "After dining" a prepositional phrase or an elliptical adverbial
> clause, i.e., "After I finished dining..."?
>
> We are having an argument over this among our English faculty.
>
> thanks for any counseling,
>
> Kent
>
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