Therefore, World History was conceived of in European terms, the rest of the world merely pivoting around free and rational Europe.
Is the use of the gerund 'pivoting' correct in the latter part of the sentence?
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It struck me as rather odd that pivoting is not preceded by a form of 'to be' and therefore does not fulfill the subject verb criterion of a sentence. – ali_ runnindis Jan 05 '21 at 19:00
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would the addition of 'with' before 'the rest of the world' fix it? – ali_ runnindis Jan 05 '21 at 19:01
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It's grammatical. It's an absolute construction. Compare 'His hair flowing in the breeze, Sir Galengal rode proudly into battle'. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 05 '21 at 19:03
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Does this answer your question? Can a present participle follow a subject? 'The referee having finally arrived, the game began' = 'The game began, the referee having finally arrived.' – Edwin Ashworth Jan 05 '21 at 19:05
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@EdwinAshworth Such as in ablative absolute? – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jan 05 '21 at 19:05
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1@Cascabel the correspondence with Latin grammar is far from exact; this was also discussed in another thread. Someone (I forget who) challenged the broadened usage in English (accepted by some authorities) but was arguing from the restrictions present in Latin. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 05 '21 at 19:07
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1@EdwinAshworth it does answer it. Thank you. – ali_ runnindis Jan 05 '21 at 19:08
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Ah, Andrew Leach, at Thirsty, we drank. Acceptable? (This is what some call the 'absolute' utilisation of the adjective (contrast 'pronominal', 'predicative' etc). But 'absolute adjective' has two conflicting 9and well known) (and useful) definitions besides this one, so care is needed. – Edwin Ashworth Jan 05 '21 at 19:11
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@EdwinAshworth I asked because I know there has been some dispute in the past over applying Latin grammar to English. I first heard of this from Michener when he mentioned the usage with the example "The bridge built, Caesar crossed." while actually discussing the other use of ablative when describing ceramic shielding for re-entry vehicles. – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_ Jan 05 '21 at 19:57