Timeline for Doesn't this clause need a verb?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
4 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 2016 at 20:23 | comment | added | Alan Carmack | Thus the clause has a verb (spreading) but it is a non-finite verb. | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 19:02 | comment | added | StoneyB on hiatus | @YuuichiTam The simple past form spread has a "perfective" sense: we see the event it names as a complete whole. If Lofting had said "...looked up sharply and a wonderful smile spread over his face" we would understand the look and the smile to be consecutive events. The present participle or -ing form has an "imperfective" sense--that is, we see the event which it names as occurring over time throughout the immediate timeframe: the Doctor smiles while he looks up. | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 18:54 | comment | added | Yuuichi Tam | Thank you for your answer. I could your sentence understand but why does this writer the word "spreading" instead of "spread"? | |
| Apr 25, 2016 at 18:36 | history | answered | StoneyB on hiatus | CC BY-SA 3.0 |