0

Eating a hearty breakfast, we prepared for our long journey.

I think this sentence alone can mean:

  1. Eating is part of the preparation
  2. Eating precedes the preparation (after eating we prepared).

What do you think?

MarcInManhattan
  • 15,405
  • 1
  • 24
  • 51
ForOU
  • 1,673
  • 6
  • 17
  • Not sure what you mean by 'the proposition', but the logical meaning is that they did both at once. However, assuming that the 'preparation' included assembling luggage, putting coats on etc., common sense suggests that it followed the breakfast. – Kate Bunting Jun 27 '23 at 08:21
  • I am terribly sorry. That should have been "preparation" – ForOU Jun 27 '23 at 08:32
  • 1
    The sentence in the question is very often quoted in academic papers about participial constructions, and is of the present-participial type. I believe the temporal location expresses a kind of simultaneity and I think the only sensible interpretation is that the eating of the hearty breakfast constituted the preparation necessary for a a long journey during which opportunities for eating might be (or were expected to be) limited. Consider: folding your clothes and packing your suitcase while eating bacon and eggs might be tricky or messy. – Michael Harvey Jun 27 '23 at 10:46

1 Answers1

3

With no other information, most people would infer that the "eating" occurred at the same time as the "preparing". If you wanted to suggest that the eating preceded the preparing (which seems more likely), then it would be normal to use the perfect aspect for the earlier action:

Having eaten a hearty breakfast, we prepared for our long journey.

MarcInManhattan
  • 15,405
  • 1
  • 24
  • 51