Narrative
Focus on Clarity
A participial phrase at the beginning of a sentence must refer to the grammatical subject. The relationship between the participle or participial phrase and the modified word must be clear.
dangling participle
A participle not clearly modifying a word in the sentence
misplaced participle
A participle not close in proximity to the word that it modifies
Bicycling slowly down the road, he saw a woman accompanied by two children.
The word bicycling refers to the subject of the sentence (he), not to the woman. If it is to refer to the woman, the sentence must be changed:
He saw a woman, accompanied by two children, bicycling slowly down the road.
Participial phrases preceded by a conjunction or by a preposition, nouns in apposition, adjectives, and adjective phrases come under the same rule if they begin the sentence.
| Ambiguous | Clear |
| On arriving in Chicago, his friends met him at the station. | On arriving in Chicago, he was met by his friends at the station. |
| A soldier of proved valor, they entrusted him with the defense of the city. | A soldier of proved valor, he was entrusted with the defense of the city. |
| Young and inexperienced, the task seemed easy to me. | Young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy. |
| Without a friend to counsel him, the temptation proved irresistible. | Without a friend to counsel him, he found the temptation irresistible. |
Absurdity in examples
Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap.
Wondering irresolutely what to do next, the clock struck twelve.
Dangling & Misplaced Participles
Point out the dangling or misplaced participles in the following sentences. Correct and rewrite the sentences.
- While eating my dinner yesterday evening, the telephone rang.
- Writing a very tedious essay, naturally the laughter of my friends on the campus disturbed me.
- Peeping through our keyhole, the cat which we had mistaken for a burglar could be plainly seen.
- Failing to wind my watch, it stopped.
- Dropping my watch on the hardwood floor, it was broken.
- This morning John saw a large snake walking through the woods.
For each sentence below, write a sentence that imitates the structure of the given sentence.
- On arriving in Chicago, he was met by his friends at the station.
- A soldier of proved valor, he was entrusted with the defense of the city.
- Young and inexperienced, I thought the task easy.
- Without a friend to counsel him, he found the temptation irresistible.
Strunk & White
Possessives
- Boys (plural noun ending in s)
- Children (plural noun not ending in s)
- Charles (singular noun ending in s)
- Team (singular noun not ending in s)
- Jesus (exception)
- Hair
- Its, It’s (pronominal possessive)
- Yours, You’re
- Whose, Who’s
Series with conjunction
red white blue
gold silver bronze
He unfolded the letter read it and made a note of its contents.
For lunch he had a sandwich apple and milk
Fix this: He served cake, cookies, raisins and chocolate chip cookies