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This post is related to a question I asked earlier, link to which is below

Present participle as a modifier

Actually I had this doubt after visiting a website, the link to which I have given below. It was developed by a few speakers of Indian English. It was after seeing a small table there I decided to get confirmation of it from native English speakers. The table is in the middle of that page with '✅' and '➕' signs. Is that table giving the right information?

https://e-gmat.com/blogs/noun-noun-modifiers-can-modify-any-entity/

Mr. X
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    Please summarize the information that you'd like us to clarify. We need a more specific question than, "is the information on this page correct." – Juhasz Feb 27 '20 at 17:00
  • My simple question is: can a present participle modify the object of a verb or maybe any other noun in the preceding clause or maybe a smaller clause inside the main clause? That site says we CANNOT. But I have a feeling that we can and I'd given an example wherein I showed how a PP can modify the object of a verb in the preceding clause. I just wanted to know whether the information given there is correct or misleading. The example I made up is given below: yesterday I met your brother at the supermarket buying some stuff for his children. – Mr. X Feb 27 '20 at 17:34
  • That page is not applicable to your sentence. You don't have a "verb-ing" modifier modifying a noun. You have a reduced adverb clause modifying a verb. – Tinfoil Hat Feb 28 '20 at 00:27
  • Is there any possibility I could write the following: "yesterday I met your brother. He was buying some stuff for his children" two independent clauses = "Yesterday I met your brother, who was buying some stuff for his children" the second part is a non-defining relative clause modifying "your brother". Also remember that I said B has only one brother. = "Yesterday I met your brother, buying some stuff for his children" the second part is a reduced relative clause modifying "your brother". You say "You don't have a "verb-ing" modifier modifying a noun." So what's your opinion of my analysis – Mr. X Feb 28 '20 at 07:59
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    Now that you have a comma, you do have a verb-ing—a participle phrase—modifying a noun. – Tinfoil Hat Feb 28 '20 at 15:10
  • So you mean to say 'without a comma, the participle clause acts as a reduced adverb clause' and 'with a comma, it acts more like a reduced relative clause'. You also agree that the information given on that page, especially in that table, is misleading. Do you? – Mr. X Feb 28 '20 at 18:20

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