Mymisc Wrote:I don't get the point whether the structure in (E) "X did Y, ALSO doing Z" is acceptable in some situation, such as "She baked a cake, ALSO making a pie."--is "also" correctly used here?
Thanks!
remember that the word "also" is just an adverb. therefore, GRAMMATICALLY, this word is insignificant; if the grammar of the sentence created by removing "also" is correct, then the grammar of this version will also be correct.
however, the word "also" must create a logical MEANING as well: we must be talking about some other action or consequence
that is of the same type as something else mentioned in the sentence. (notice, as is the case for any other discussion of meaning, you must consider the meaning of the sentence with all modifiers intact; "eliminating modifiers" is a technique that only applies to purely grammatical considerations.)
in addition to this consideration of meaning -- which is dictated by "also" -- the other constructions in the sentence must also work in terms of meaning. for instance, a COMMA -ING modifier must still have the sort of meaning generally required by such modifiers.
let's check:
GRAMMAR:in your example, the removal of "also" creates a COMMA -ING type modifier; since that's a legitimate type of modifier, it follows that the grammar of your example (with the cakes and pies) is fine.
MEANING:the cakes and pies example fails here; "making a pie" does not actually modify the action of the preceding clause. (since it's a separate action, the sentence would be better written with a parallel structure containing the signal "and":
she baked a cake and also made a pie.)
here's a sentence in which this sort of construction is used correctly in both senses (grammar and meaning):
in today's game Núñez broke the Peñarol club record for goals in one half by scoring 4 times before halftime, also setting an Uruguayan national record with the same feat.--> not the most beautiful sentence in the world, but at least correct.
