Present participle followed by a noun

[modiankit27]

Hello Ron/Stacey,

I am having difficulty identifying if Verb ing followed by a noun acts as a modifier or as a gerund

I came across below mentioned sentences in Manhattan SC
The sleeping cat took a nap - As per the guide , sleeping is a verb ing modifier.
Tracking satellites accurately is important for space agency - In this case , Tracking satellites accurately is a simple gerund phrase


I would appreciate it if you explain how to determine if verb ing before a noun is a modifier or part of a gerund phrase

[RonPurewal]

I would appreciate it if you explain how to determine if verb ing before a noun is a modifier or part of a gerund phrase

basically, you have to use common sense to determine the intended meaning. once you have the intended meaning, the distinction will be pretty clear -- it's a big difference.

e.g.
Crying babies annoy passengers on airplanes.
--> here, "crying" is an adjective describing "babies".

Crying "fire" in a crowded theater is not considered free speech.
--> here, "crying" is a noun. (grammatically, this sentence is similar to Swimming is fun.)

more examples -- you decide this time (answers in the next post -- don't scroll down until you try):

1/
Increasing sales taxes (is / are) causing many local stores to close.

2/
Increasing sales taxes (is / are) not a prudent decision for legislators seeking to be re-elected.

[RonPurewal]

answers to the previous examples:

1/
Increasing sales taxes are causing many local stores to close.
--> the stores are not increasing the taxes, so "increasing" is not a noun here. instead, it's the taxes themselves that are causing the stores to close, so "taxes" is the subject and "increasing" is just an adjective.

2/
Increasing sales taxes is not a prudent decision for legislators seeking to be re-elected.
--> this is like Swimming after dinner is a bad idea (it's the act of swimming itself that's a bad idea).
the point here is that legislators shouldn't raise sales taxes if they want to be voted back into office (since that would annoy the voters). so, doing that is a bad idea; "increasing" is a noun.