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a dog barking / a barking dog

hirashin

Sempai
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8 Apr 2004
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Dear native English speakers,
what's the difference between (a) and (b)?
(a) There's a dog barking at the entrance.
(b) There's a barking dog at the entrance.

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin
 
a) could technically be misinterpreted as the dog having beef with the entrance, similar to "There's a dog barking at the mailman." (Then again, some dogs will bark at just about anything...)
b) doesn't have this ambiguity. It simply says there's a dog located at the entrance, barking at *something*.
 
The rule for participial adjectives is this: if it's a single word, it goes before (like a standard adjective does). If it is part of a phrase, it goes after. I think barking dog is preferable here, since the entrance and barking have no connection.
 
Thanks for the help, lanthas, Julimaruchan and nahadef.
It seems that your opinions are divided. I'd like to hear other people's views if possible.
 
If you check the book Practical English Usage, by Oxford, see the entry on participles, Participles (3) 1 used as adjectives and participles (4) clauses, it outlines the rules fairly clearly :emoji_wink:
 
Thanks,nahadef. If it is the one by Michael Swan, I have it. I'll check it.
 
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