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Adangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly statedin the sentence. A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about aconcept.
Having finished theassignment, Jillturned on the TV.
"Havingfinished" states an action but does not name the doer of that action. In Englishsentences, the doer must be the subject of the main clause that follows.In this sentence, it is Jill. She seems logically to be the one doing theaction ("having finished"), and this sentence therefore does not havea dangling modifier.
Thefollowing sentence has an incorrect usage:
Having finished theassignment, the TVwas turned on.
"Havingfinished" is a participle expressing action, but the doer is not the TVset (the subject of the main clause): TV sets don't finish assignments. Sincethe doer of the action expressed in the participle has not been clearly stated,the participial phrase is said to be a dangling modifier.
Strategiesfor revising dangling modifiers:1.Name the appropriate or logical doer of the action as the subject of the mainclause:
Having arrived late forpractice,a written excuse wasneeded.
Whoarrived late? This sentence says that the written excuse arrived late. Torevise, decide who actually arrived late. The possible revision might look likethis:
Having arrived late forpractice, the team captain needed awritten excuse.
Themain clause now names the person (the captain) who did the action in themodifying phrase (arrived late).
2.Change the phrase that dangles into a complete introductory clause by namingthe doer of the action in that clause:
Without knowing his name, it was difficult to introducehim.
Whodidn't know his name? This sentence says that "it" didn't know hisname. To revise, decide who was trying to introduce him. The revision mightlook something like this:
Because Maria did not know hisname,it was difficult to introduce him.
Thephrase is now a complete introductory clause; it does not modify any other partof the sentence, so is not considered "dangling."
3.Combine the phrase and main clause into one:
To improve his results, the experiment was done again.
Whowanted to improve results? This sentence says that the experiment was trying toimprove its own results. To revise, combine the phrase and the main clause intoone sentence. The revision might look something like this:
He improved his results bydoing the experiment again.
Moreexamples of dangling modifiers and their revisions:Incorrect:After reading the original study, the article remainsunconvincing.
Revised:After reading the original study,I find the articleunconvincing.
Incorrect:Relieved of your responsibilitiesat your job, your homeshould be a place to relax.
Revised:Relieved of your responsibilitiesat your job, youshould be able to relax at home.
Incorrect:The experiment was afailure, not having studied thelab manual carefully.
Revised:They failed theexperiment, not having studied the lab manualcarefully.
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发表于 2012-9-7 02:10:48
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