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I'm confused about a mulitple-choice question:

He didn't answer, with his gun __________ at David.

a. aims
b. to aim
c. aiming
d. being aimed

My first reaction was that the gun was aimed at David, which pushed me to choose D. However, the correct answer was C; therefore, could some friends show me some conventional ways to use the verbal phrase "aim at"? By the way, what would be the common agent of this action?

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  • I did not read the last paragraph and had cast my vote to (c). Why? Because it looks natural!
    – Maulik V
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 12:28
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    Interesting question. "aimed" not being one of the choices, c) is the only possible choice there, but aiming strikes my ear as only marginally idiomatic, as it suggests the guns are themselves volitional agents. Though we do say things like "Where are those guns aiming?" He didn't answer, aiming his gun at David. He is the aimer. He didn't answer, his gun aimed at David. Passive. Pointing for some reason sounds OK.
    – TimR
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 12:42
  • Interesting that you say "looks",@Maulik V, not "sounds".
    – TimR
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 12:51
  • I agree with you, CopperKettle. Sorry, D should be"being aimed".
    – chenyi zhou
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 12:51

1 Answer 1

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This is an odd exercise sentence, no matter how you slice it. Since there is an available agent "he", an intransitive form in the absolute clause (his gun aiming) is much less likely than a transitive passive, and with the transitive passive, we probably wouldn't say with his gun being aimed but simply his gun aimed, as the impersonal being is again unlikely when an agent is present.

He didn't answer, his gun aimed at David.

Compare:

She stood there, with the hem of her dress being pinned.

She is not the pinner, the (implied) seamstress is, so this sentence is natural, whereas he is the aimer (unless by some odd twist someone else is holding his gun).

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  • Agree. If I encountered this sentence in a novel I would call it terrible writing.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 13:30
  • I agree with your explanation for the transitive passive, since it's also difficult for me to understand an adverbial with a part like "... gun being aimed at" when the context is somehow imperceptible.
    – chenyi zhou
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 13:35
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    My problem is that I'd expect more semantic coherence in an absolute. 'His gun aiming steadily at David, he carefully sat down. He didn't answer.'
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 15:45

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