BB Writing question

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1

<p>Test 7 pg 777 #20</p>

<p>In 1850 Jim Beckwourth, a Black American explorer, discovered in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada a pass soon becoming an important gateway to California gold-rush country. NE.</p>

<p>Collegeboard's explanation is " The error in this sentence occurs at (C), where an inappropriate verbal form, the present participle “becoming,” is inconsistent with the past tense of the main verb, “discovered.”</p>

<p>Test 8 pg 839 #14
Writing about people whose circumstances were deplorable, Dickens used the novel to protest social conditions in Victorian England. NE.</p>

<p>The answer is E, no error, but there is one thing I'm confused about. In the first question, the error occurs at C where the sentence contains a present participle that does not agree with the main verb. Isn't that the same for the second question? "Writing" is a present participle, but the main verb is "used". What's the trick here? Are their exceptions to this rule?</p>

2

<p>(Writing) is a gerund not a verb. If you want (writing)(any -ing present participle word) to be a verb, you must write an auxilary verb before it(was,were,are,is, etc)</p>

<p>Hope this helped :):):)</p>

3

<p>The first would be “soon to become”. Reality does a good job explaining. But a lot of times, I think about what sounds right in my head by replacing it with other verbs.</p>

<p>For instance, if it was: “Running back from the store, Johnny tripped over a rock”, there’s no problem with the running part of the sentence.</p>

4

<p>“Writing” in that sentence is a gerund? I thought “Writing…deplorable,” is a present participial phrase that describes Dickens.</p>

5

<p>^You are correct about it being a modifying participial phrase. Sorry, I was writing in a hurry, and I didnt read the sentence properly. But the sentence:

</p>

<p>is a 100% correct.</p>

<p>Thanks again for pointing out at my mistake as this made me learn a new thing.
I will add you as a friend.</p>