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Mr. Tom Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary
Lying by the side of the road we saw the wheel of a car.
Hi
Would you say this sentence is perfectly fine?
Lying by the side of the road we saw the wheel of a car.
To my non-native ears, it is an example of a dangling modifier. What about the native ears?
Tom
Would you say this sentence is perfectly fine?
Lying by the side of the road we saw the wheel of a car.
To my non-native ears, it is an example of a dangling modifier. What about the native ears?
Tom
Top answer
Hi I'd say you are exactly right. ' phrase will sound as if it refers to the next substantive noun, which is 'we'. So it rather looks as if we were lying by the side of the road when we saw the wheel - We saw a car wheel lying by the side of the road ...
- Hi I'd say you are exactly right.
- ' phrase will sound as if it refers to the next substantive noun, which is 'we'.
- So it rather looks as if we were lying by the side of the road when we saw the wheel - We saw a car wheel lying by the side of the road ...
- is OK Dave
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6 Answers
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Hi
I'd say you are exactly right. The 'lying ...' phrase will sound as if it refers to the next substantive noun, which is 'we'. So it rather looks as if we were lying by the side of the road when we saw the wheel
- We saw a car wheel lying by the side of the road
... is OK
Dave
I'd say you are exactly right. The 'lying ...' phrase will sound as if it refers to the next substantive noun, which is 'we'. So it rather looks as if we were lying by the side of the road when we saw the wheel
- We saw a car wheel lying by the side of the road
... is OK
Dave
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Thanks, Dave.
I wonder why Michael Swan used this sentence in one of his examples. The book "Practical English Usage" has been reviewed by so many linguists, but seems like that none of them objected to this:
Swan suggests: pg 65
[the...of ...
In classifying expressions of this kind, the first article is definite even if the meaning of th
I wonder why Michael Swan used this sentence in one of his examples. The book "Practical English Usage" has been reviewed by so many linguists, but seems like that none of them objected to this:
Swan suggests: pg 65
[the...of ...
In classifying expressions of this kind, the first article is definite even if the meaning of th
00
Hi
I think the writer is making a good point there about the use of the definite and indefinite article. You could say:
- We saw the car wheel at the side of the road
- We saw a car wheel at the side of the road
The first of these is slightly more natural because the speaker wants to draw your attention to the wheel, so it's good to use the definite article there.
I think the writer is making a good point there about the use of the definite and indefinite article. You could say:
- We saw the car wheel at the side of the road
- We saw a car wheel at the side of the road
The first of these is slightly more natural because the speaker wants to draw your attention to the wheel, so it's good to use the definite article there.
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This would be more correct grammatically as: "We saw the wheel of a car lying by the side of the road." However, if the fact that the wheel was lying by the side of the road - and not, say, lying in the middle of the road, or hidden in the bushes along the road, etc. - is something that the writer wants to emphasize, then, in this context, it might be put first in a sentence, for the sake of emp
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Hi
I thought of anon's sentence and I agree it is more to do with style than grammar
- We saw the wheel of a car lying by the side of the road
Strictly, that can suggest that the car is lying by the side of the road and we've seen a wheel that has come off it. We need to know if it's the wheel or the car that is lying by the side of the road
Dave
I thought of anon's sentence and I agree it is more to do with style than grammar
- We saw the wheel of a car lying by the side of the road
Strictly, that can suggest that the car is lying by the side of the road and we've seen a wheel that has come off it. We need to know if it's the wheel or the car that is lying by the side of the road
Dave
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Mr. TomseemsMaybe they all thought that we were lying by the side of the road. Or they were distracted by the fact that Mr. Swan directed their attention to a completely different part oflikethat none of them objected to this: Lying by the side of the road we saw the wheel of a car.
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