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Dangling
participles, while they can sometimes be humorous to read,
are common errors. A participial phrase is a phrase that is
headed by a participle (a verb in the –ing or the –ed
form). A dangling participle occurs when the phrase fails to
modify the subject of the sentence. The following sentence
is an example of a dangling participle:
Ex.
Having hidden really well, the Martians gave up on
looking for Bob. (Incorrect)
This
participle (the italicized part) is dangling because
it implies that the Martians are the ones who were hiding,
when, in fact, it was Bob who hid. The following is
one correct way to write the sentence:
Ex. Having
hidden really well, Bob saw the Martians give up on looking
for him as they flew away. (Correct)
More
examples of dangling participles follow:
Ex.
Flying low to the ground, Jim saw the crop-duster zip
across the field. (Incorrect)
Ex. Flying
low to the ground, the crop-duster, as Jim saw, zipped
across the field. (Correct)
In this
first example, the sentence implies that Jim is the one
flying low to the ground. In reality, the flier is the
crop-duster. The corrected version makes the crop-duster the
subject flying low to the ground instead of Jim.
Ex.
Tired of reading about plagiarism, the papers were set
on fire. (Incorrect)
Ex. Tired
of reading about plagiarism, Ernest set the papers on fire.
(Correct)
This second
example shows the papers being tired of reading about
plagiarism. The corrected version indicates Ernest is the one who
was tired of reading about plagiarism, instead of the papers
themselves.
Ex.
Wishing doom on her co-worker, secret thoughts traveled
through Sophia’s mind. (Incorrect)
Ex. Wishing
doom on her co-worker, Sophia had secret thoughts traveling
through her mind. (Correct)
This third
example has the secret thoughts wishing doom on her
co-worker, when it should be Sophia. The corrected version
makes Sophia the doer who is wishing doom, instead of her thoughts
acting as doer.
Ex.
Procrastinating from doing actual work, Harry Potter
is discussed among the staff. (Incorrect)
Ex.
Procrastinating from doing actual work, the staff discussed
Harry Potter. (Correct)
This final
example has the topic of discussion, Harry Potter, as
doing the actual procrastinating. The corrected version
makes it so the staff is procrastinating instead of Harry
Potter procrastinating.
So, although they can have
humorous results, having a dangling participle can get quite
confusing to a reader. |