participles and gerunds

 Hi Mounce users,

After using Machen for many years (and being disappointed by the second edition of the latter), I decided to switch to Mounce, about which I had heard many good things. I received my desk copy of the Grammar in the mail today. Imagine my surprise, upon browsing through the initial section on "Rationale," to discover two errors in basic grammar. On p. xvii we are told that in the English phrase "after eating," the first word is an adverb, and the second word is a participle. Unless my high school teachers deceived me, "after" is here a preposition, not an adverb, and "eating" is a gerund (verbal noun), not a preposition.

Not an auspicious beginning! I trust the rest of the book is more reliable.

Grammatically yours,

Al Wolters