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Grammar
Q & A Newsgroup
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Member Posts: 1948
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Posted
Dear teachers,
Is this sentence correct? "Sales of margarine rose last year comparing those of butter." Thanks. |
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Member Location: Yokohama
Posts: 865
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Posted
.
No, sorry. Sales of margarine rose last year compared to those of butter. However, the logic of the statement eludes me. It seems to me that oleomargarine sales must have risen absolutely, if at all. Perhaps your sentence should read: Sales of margarine rose more last year compared to those of butter. Canadian-American native speaker who teaches English for a living. |
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Member Posts: 11697
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Posted
Mister Micawber makes a good point about clarifying the meaning of your original sentence, cocoricot.
I'd just like to add the reason that the sentence needs the past participle (compared), not the present participle (comparing). We use the past participle in this way to reflect the passive voice, to show that the subject isn't doing the action, but receiving it. Sales of margarine and butter are being compared. We use the present participle in this way to reflect the active voice, to show that we are doing the action: Comparing sales of margarine and butter, we can see that margarine sales have risen more. Richard |
