[Grammar] Gerund or Past participle or Present Perfect?

[pseudo]

[FONT=-&amp]"So far, dummies have provided invaluable data on how human bodies react in crashes and have contributed greatly to [improved / improving] vehicle design."

I think both can be correct.

If the answer is 'improved(past participle)', the objective of the preposition 'to' is design.

But if the answer is 'improving', the objective of the preposition 'to' is 'improving' itself.

And the 'improving' is not present participle but gerund.

Can both be correct or only one of the two?[/FONT]

 

[philo2009]

[FONT=-&amp]"So far, dummies have provided invaluable data on how human bodies react in crashes and have contributed greatly to [improved / improving] vehicle design."

I think both can be correct.

If the answer is 'improved(past participle)', the objective of the preposition 'to' is design.

But if the answer is 'improving', the objective of the preposition 'to' is 'improving' itself.

And the 'improving' is not present participle but gerund.

Can both be correct or only one of the two?[/FONT]

Only the gerund form is acceptable here.

 

[pseudo]

I'm afraid it is not.

The original text has the past participle form.

 

[bhaisahab]

Both are possible.

 

[pseudo]

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Rover_KE]

Your thanks are appreciated, pseudo, but you don't need to send them in a separate post.

We are all happy to accept a simple click on the Like button as your acknowledgement of our help.

Rover:-D

 

[philo2009]

I'm afraid it is not.

The original text has the past participle form.

Sorry, I misread your post in haste, thinking the choice to be (the usual one for learners) between gerund and infinitive. Yes, indeed, the past participle 'improved', functioning as an adnominal adjunct to NP 'vehicle design', is perfectly possible.

 

[hombre viejo]

I think you are right. Either can be used as the object of the preposition, and "improving" in this case is a gerund - a verbal noun - not a present participle. In that instance, "design" would be an adjective and "vehicle" would thus have to be an adverb modifying it. However, I can find no dictionary use of the word "vehicle" as an adverb.

 

[5jj]

. In that instance, "design" would be an adjective and "vehicle" would thus have to be an adverb modifying it. However, I can find no dictionary use of the word "vehicle" as an adverb.

No. 'Vehicle design' is a Noun Phrase. 'Vehicle' is not, and cannot be, an adverb.