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Is 'bungling' a noun in the context and is the sentence still grammatical if 'they' is omitted?
Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that [they] allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained...
The original sentences:
Stung in the past by criticism of bungling that allowed fires to spread when they might have been contained, personnel are meeting the peculiar challenges of neighborhood—and canyon—hopping fires better than previously, observers say.
2019年9月4日 05:30
回答 · 11
2
1 - Is bungling a noun? (Yes)
Stung by X
X is the object of a preposition and therefore must be a noun (or equvalent).
Stung by criticism ...
Criticism is a noun.
Stung by criticism of X
X is the object of a preposition and must be a noun (or equivalent).
Stung by criticism of bungling ...
Bungling is a gerund which is a verb form that functions as a noun.
2 - [they]
Inserting "they" changes the meaning.
2019年9月4日
2
Did you mean 'added' rather than 'omitted'?
To me, it is a little odd if you add 'they', without making it (say) "bungling: that they", because you are confusing the two nouns 'bungling' and 'they'.
In the original, it is the bungling that caused the spreading. It is implied that they did the bungling.
2019年9月4日
1
Taking out "they" would change the meaning and probably be wrong (but to be sure of that more context is needed.)
The bungling was that they allowed fires to spread. (They allowed the fires to spread on purpose, and that was wrong in the opinion of the author)
Bungling allowed the fires to spread. (They bungled something (did something wrong) and as a result the fires spread)
2019年9月4日
Hi, Gary. The original had no 'they' in it. And I have just posted the original in the question.
Thank you. I have got the answer. Thank you for your help :)
2019年9月4日
To clarify - the original had 'they' in it? And there was no comma or other punctuation in there?
2019年9月4日
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