您在前面说过,分词短语充当状语时,其逻辑主语应当是句子的语法主语。为什么下面的句子不符合这种要求?
Broadly speaking, adjectives are words that qualify nouns. (FWF)
粗略地说,形容词是修饰名词的词。
关于这种句型,张道真教授编著的《实用英语语法》说:“间或可以用一个分词短语来解释整个一句话。”章振邦等主编的《新编英语语法》只是说“generally speaking, judging from... talking of..., assuming...等等已经成为固定用语”,而没有作进一步的解释。Oxford English 则作了如下的解释:当分词短语的逻辑主语可以理解为 one 或 people 时,则分词短语的逻辑主语可以与句子的语法主语不一致。例如:
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Judging from his appearance, he can't be over forty. 从他的外貌来看，他不可能超过40岁。
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Taking everything into consideration, you were lucky to escape. 从各方面考虑,你能逃离真是幸运。
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Generally speaking, boys are more interested in such activities than girls. 一般说来男孩对这种活动兴趣比女孩子大。
上面的分词短语分别相当于“If one judges...”, “If one takes...”, “If one speaks...”。
A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (§ 15.59) 对于这种分词短语的逻辑主语与句子主语不一致的现象作了更为详细的阐述。作者们提出了四种情况：
A. 分词短语隐含的主语常常是 I:
Putting it mildly, you have caused us some inconvenience. 说得温和一些,你给我们造成了一些不便。
B. 分词短语隐含的主语是整个句子：
The siren sounded, indicating that the air raid was over. [“... which indicated that...”] (CGEL) 警报响起来了，证明空袭结束了。