Sentence construct with an ing word

He followed the road to the mountains.

Solved...

Thothguard's excellent solution makes a wider point: Often these kinds of participial phrases can be simplified just by getting rid of the participle.

Participles are "verb adjectives"; that is, they share aspects of verbs and adjectives.

http://www.slu.edu/colleges/AS/languages/classical/latin/tchmat/grammar/whprax/w23pplex.html

Gerunds are _ing suffix words that function as nouns.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/627/01/

He took a photo of the road to the mountains.

Or...

From where he stood, the road into the distant mountains slithered like a snake. He snapped the picture.

Now what do the bolded words have in common?

MaxWriter said:

He followed the road leading to the mountains.
He followed the road that led to the mountains.

Is one preferred over the other? Is this just a stylistic choice, or are there grammatical reasons to write one way or the other? Is this what they call a Gerund?

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I don't know the answer to your question, or if there is an answer to your question, but if I was writing it I'd go with the second sentence: "... that led to the mountains."

Typically, you want to limit the number of "ing" verbs you use.

You also want to limit the use of passive grammar and THAT is very passive...

thothguard51 said:

You also want to limit the use of passive grammar and THAT is very passive...

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"That" isn't passive. Neither is "was", for that matter.

Passive is solely about whether the subject of the sentence is acting, or being acted upon.

thothguard51 said:

You also want to limit the use of passive grammar and THAT is very passive...

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No, no, and no! "That" may not be the best word for a particular sentence construction, but it is not in any sense "passive", as JAR has correctly pointed out.

If the word does not add to the active voice of the storytelling, then it is passive. In the cases noted above, that is unneeded and thus, passive.

Of course, as others have noted that is not improperly used, just not the best choice.

I might also add, there is a time for passive storytelling, but should not be mixed within active scenes. IMHO of course...

MaxWriter said:

He followed the road leading to the mountains.
He followed the road that led to the mountains.

Is one preferred over the other? Is this just a stylistic choice, or are there grammatical reasons to write one way or the other? Is this what they call a Gerund?

Click to expand...

As has been pointed out, either construction is weak, but correct. I agree with Thothguard51 and would like to take it a step further.

The subject of this sentence is He, who is then subordinated to the road, which is in turn subordinated to the generic mountains. Your subject is in a very passive state no matter how lyrical.

Is this your intention? Is this the impression you want your character to bring to the plot at this moment? If it is, fine. If not, consider: 'He took the road to the mountains.'

thothguard51 said:

If the word does not add to the active voice of the storytelling, then it is passive. In the cases noted above, that is unneeded and thus, passive.

Of course, as others have noted that is not improperly used, just not the best choice.

I might also add, there is a time for passive storytelling, but should not be mixed within active scenes. IMHO of course...

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Sigh. No, it doesn't work this way.Whether a word is needed has nothing whatsoever to do with active/passive. Active verbs are good things, but some of the worst writing comes from using active verbs in order to avoid passive sentences.

thothguard51 said:

You also want to limit the use of passive grammar and THAT is very passive...

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It's not even remotely passive. This is passive:

The road to the mountains was followed by him.

Rufus Coppertop said:

It's not even remotely passive. This is passive:

The road to the mountains was followed by him.

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Agreed. I think the term "passive" gets thrown around here to mean things like "doesn't use strong, action verbs" or "contains words that slow down the sentence" when in fact the passage is still written in active voice.

Not sure if I am missing the point or not explaining properly.

THAT and WHICH are two pronoun writers need to use with purpose. We use THAT in speech easily without too much thought, but in writing, it really does not add to the sentence construction or meaning in 90% of cases.

Now if used in dialogue, then it becomes part of how the person talks. No issue there.

My point, THAT was unneeded as used. It is not wrong, just not the best choice and can make a sentence passive where not intended to be passive. Of course, you have to look at how the whole sentence is constructed and what it says and not just one word...

Does this make better sense???

thothguard51 said:

My point, THAT was unneeded as used. It is not wrong, just not the best choice and can make a sentence passive where not intended to be passive. Of course, you have to look at how the whole sentence is constructed and what it says and not just one word...

Does this make better sense???

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You were entirely correct and cogent in your initial suggestion for improving the subject sentence in the OP. Your subsequent contention that use of the word "that" was passive was simply incorrect.

I second both points.

First is more common, but it also depends on tense and main feel of the situation. Just my two cents lol

MaxWriter said:

He followed the road leading to the mountains.
He followed the road that led to the mountains.

Is one preferred over the other? Is this just a stylistic choice, or are there grammatical reasons to write one way or the other? Is this what they call a Gerund?

Click to expand...

Yep, leading is a gerund. I'd say these are stylistically and gramatically equivalent. You might choose one or the other to vary your sentence structure or for other euphonic reasons, in my view.