Hi
One of my grammar books says that the following phrases cause the most dangling participles. Could you please tell me how by completing them in such a way that they end up becoming dangling participles?
1- Assuming that…
2- Based on…
3- Given that…
4- Regarding your…
5- Seeing that…
6- Judging by…
Tom
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Not so easy, Tom. I think these qualify:
1- Assuming that the earth is round, it should be circumnavigable.
2- Based on my test, you are pregnant.
3- Given that it’s Tuesday, the laundry man should be here soon.(?)
4- Regarding your dog, he doesn’t bite, does he?
5- Seeing that I’m out of work, this interview is important to me.
6- Judging by the colour of your nose, where have you been?
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Many thanks, Mister Micawber!
May I ask why the question mark?
Tom
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I’m not sure whether given is dangling; maybe someone else will be.
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It is me again! :lol:
Could you please tell me if the following sentences are 100%correct? No dangling participles!
1- Assuming that the earth is round, Newton proposed this theory.
2- Based on my test, the report cannot be wrong.
3- Given that it is Tuesday, I cannot allow you a half day leave.
4- Regarding your dog, there are a few things I would like to discuss.
5- Seeing that I am out of work, you should help me out.
6- Judging by the colour of your nose, I am sure you have been out all day long.
Do we agree?
Tom
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#4 is a very common way of expression, but I am not sure that it is not dangling. If there is a dummy subject, the actual subject is things… and neither there nor things can regard.
Yet the phrase is so pervasive that I am tempted to simply call 'regarding… ’ a set phrase– in which case I could solve my own difficulty by adding ‘given that…’ to the same list of set phrases: then we need not worry about dangle.
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I agree with you, MM. I think there are much worse and more flagrant cases of dangle than those. :lol:
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[color=red]I am sorry I could not get my point across!
Do the following sentences sound OK to you?
1- Assuming that the earth is round, Newton proposed this theory.
2- Based on my test, the report cannot be wrong.
3- Given that it is Tuesday, I cannot allow you a half day leave.
4- Regarding your dog, there are a few things I would like to discuss.
5- Seeing that I am out of work, you should help me out.
6- Judging by the colour of your nose, I am sure you have been out all day long.
OK??
Tom
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Mea culpa; sorry, Mister Micawber! :oops:
And a massive ‘thanks’ to you and Amy.
I just wanted to share the name of the book with you that gave me this information.
[color=red]The Cambridge Guide to English Usage., by Pam Peters. (topic: dangling participles)
Hi Tom,
Sorry for the very late reply in this thread, but I thought it might interest you to know that dictionaries recognize both ‘given’ and ‘regarding’ as prepositions. You can see this both in the Oxford Dictionary and in Webster’s Dictionary, for example. This fact might provide us with the ammunition necessary to be able to say that they are not dangling participles when used in a certain way – i.e. when used as illustrated in this thread.
I would assume that this official recognition of such words as prepositions has come about simply as a result of the way these words are commonly used.
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[size=75]“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” ~ Mark Twain [/size]
Number four is not dangling. “Regarding” is a preposition, not a participle, and so it need not attach to a noun in the main clause. It is like “contrary to,” “concerning,” “considering,” etc.
“Given” also need not be considered dangling.
The way “given” is used in example 3 isn’t prepositional. It’s still a participle or adjective, but it does connect.
Given that he wanted to relocate, he took the job quickly.
It works the same way as this:
That he wanted to relocate being given (or acknowledged), he took the job quickly.
Prepositions cannot take relative clauses beginning with “that,” because “that” will never be an object.
I guess this is when “given” is a preposition:
He stayed home given his health.