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Which of these sentences is correct?

  1. Her sprawling house spreading over 2 acres.

  2. Her house sprawling over 2 acres.

I know in first example 'sprawling' is adjective and in second example it is a present participle.

gotube
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Rocky
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2 Answers2

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Neither of these are correct sentences, because neither one has a proper verb. Instead, both sentences use present participles without the auxiliary verb "to be", which means that the participles are acting as adjectives, not verbs.

Her sprawling house spreading over 2 acres.

Her house sprawling over 2 acres.

If we add the auxiliary verb to the participle, then we form one of the continuous tenses (past, present or future), which turns the sentence fragment into a full sentence.

Her sprawling house [was/is/will be] spreading over 2 acres.

Her house [was/is/will be] sprawling over 2 acres.

To make things simpler, let's forget about the past and future tenses and focus on the present tense.

Also, the number "2" looks a little awkward. It should be spelled out as a word. (See this question for more details: When does one write a number as words and when as digits?)

Her sprawling house is spreading over two acres.

Her house is sprawling over two acres.

There is nothing grammatically wrong with either of these sentences, but I wouldn't use the first sentence. Saying that the house "is spreading" makes me think of a house that is growing bigger and bigger all the time, like an alien blob monster. Saying the house "is sprawling" doesn't have that problem, so you could use that sentence.

We could also use a simple tense instead of a continuous tense:

Her sprawling house spreads over two acres.

Her house sprawls over two acres.

This makes the first sentence work a lot better; both these sentences have basically the same meaning. Still, the first sentence is a bit redundant. The second sentence says the same thing with fewer words. So the second sentence is better.

Her house sprawls over two acres.

You could also use "across" instead of "over", but I don't think it makes a significant difference.

MJ713
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  • Something that covers an unexpectedly or unusually large area of ground could definitely be said to be 'sprawling'; there is no implication that the house is 'active'. – Michael Harvey Apr 27 '23 at 08:56
  • @MichaelHarvey Fair point, I've updated my answer accordingly. – MJ713 Apr 27 '23 at 12:16
  • 'is spreading' and 'is sprawling' looks like house is itself doing task. The core meaning of the sentence I think is the vastness of the house. – Rocky Apr 27 '23 at 12:26
  • sprawling house and spreading do not make semantic sense. – Lambie Apr 27 '23 at 13:31
  • @Lambie Which version of the sentences are you referring to, specifically? – MJ713 Apr 27 '23 at 13:33
  • Your examples simply don't work in English at all. Sorry. For example: "Her sprawling house is spreading over two acres" makes the house sound like a live thing. – Lambie Apr 27 '23 at 13:42
  • "For example: 'Her sprawling house is spreading over two acres' makes the house sound like a live thing." That is exactly what I say in this answer when I tell the OP not to use that sentence. Though perhaps I could make that more obvious if people are misreading it. – MJ713 Apr 27 '23 at 13:46
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sprawl: adjective

It was a sprawling house built on a rather small lot.
It was a sprawling town reaching from the riverbank to the foothills of the mountain range.

sprawling: verb

The boy was sprawled over the couch, arms and legs akimbo.

Those uses cohere with these definitions:

Oxford Dictionaries

Lambie
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