Participial Construction (#3)

Question

Dear teachers,I believe that the following sentence is what is called a "hanging participle" or a "dangling participle," where the subject in the main clause and the subject in the adverb clause are not the same (one subject is "this power" but the other is not).Example A) "When gathering speed, this power along with power from a diesel engine is used to operate the motors. "Now my question is this: Is the following sentence also a hanging participle (or a dangling participle) because the subjects are not the same between "the size was measured" and "using the ABC method"?Example B)"The size was measured using the ABC method.”Here, just like the example A, the passive tense ("was measured") is used.  If this is the participal construction, what is the common subject?  Is this really of particpial construction and thus is grammatically correct?  Or are the subjects not the same in the example B as well?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

Example A is indeed generally considered incorrect, but despite your comments, A and B are not grammatically identical. Sentence A is an attempt to use what in Europe is usually called a temporal clause equivalent. In such cases, the temporal clause is reduced by omitting the subject and using a participle of the verb. The subject appears in the main clause:
When leaving the room, John bumped into an old friend. = When John left the room, he bumped into an old friend.
However, this power doesn't gather speed and thus sentence A is wrong. Unlike example B, sentence A consists of two clauses, one of which is grammatically incorrect. (Actually, I wouldn't even call When gathering speed a clause at all, just a clause equivalent. We can forget terminology, though. Terms vary from country to country, even from person to person.)
In sentence B there is only one clause as using the ABC method isn't a clause equivalent. The participle using just indicates by what means the size was measured. The size was measured is in the passive voice but could be replaced with an active structure: We measured the size using the ABC method.

Another similar example of a participle used to indicate a means: He got off the bus using a walking stick.
CB

Gori · Answer

Thank you for your comment.

Hmmm, although I do understand what you say, I still have a doubt that this is a participal construction with a hanging participle (=means the subjects are different between "the size was measured" and "using the ABC method"). I do understand that this example B ("The size was measured using the ABC method.") can be replaced to the active voice as "We measured the size, using the ABC method." This is a participal construction, and in this case, the subjects are both "we," so I would not have any problem.

In the similar example you have given ("He got off the bus, using a walking stick."), the subjects are the same ("he") between "He got off the bus" and "using a walking stick." Therefore, again, I would not have any problem with this sentence.

In the active voice, my example B does not have any problem as a participal construction since the subjects are both the same; on the contrary, in the passive voice, this cannot be a participal construction because the subjects are not the same (=means one subject is "the size" and the other subject is "we"), no?

Hmmm, I still cannot get it right,.

I appreciate other people's (preferably English teachers or native speakers who know grammar well) comments as well. Please help me

understand this logic.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

The size was measured using the ABC method.”
The phrase "using the ABC method" is an adverb phrase. It modifies the verb "measure". The phrase grammatically has the same function as "carefully" as in:

The size was measured carefully.
It answers the question "how?"

Gori · Answer

Hmmm, I see. So, do you mean that this example B is not a participal construction but simply the sentence including an adverb phrase?

What about in the active voice--"We measured the size, using the ABC method."--though? Is it wrong if I consider it as a participal construction? Is it wrong if I put a comma before "using" in this case? (I put a comma because "using" does not modify "the size.")

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Yes it is a participial phrase, since it begins with the present participle. These phrases can function as adjectives or adverbs. If it functions as a noun, the phrase is called a gerund phrase.

It is easier to write a sentence with a dangling participial phrase if the phrase functions as an adjective. It is much more difficult (maybe impossible) to go wrong with an adverb phrase.The voice doesn't matter, and the comma is used only if it improves the readability. But, take a look at these:

Wearing white lab coats in the clean room, the size was measured using the ABC method. (Dangling!! wearing white lab coats is an adjective phrase, but its noun / pronoun is nowhere to be seen)
Wearing white lab coats in the clean room, we measured the size using the ABC method. (not dangling)
Wearing white lab coats in the clean room, we measured the size two times very carefully, using the ABC method.(OK, no dangling phrases here)

Wobbling unsteadily on his cane, the bus let the old man off at his house. (Dangling!!! The adjective phrase modifies "man", not "bus". )

Raen · Answer

Sincere thanks to Gori for bringing up the term "dangling participal" and Star for giving a great explanation, I'm learning a lot.

I finished learning grammar (whatever grammar rules were presented in the book I was asked to study) a little while ago, so most of the rules are still fresh. And one of the rules that's, in my impression, no-fooling-around and you have to stick by is that a participal phrase has to/must describe or modify the subject in the main clause. And since then, I have stuck with the rule with my life, rearranging sentences with all possible orders of the words, spinning, flipping back and forth, turning them upside down just to make sure the participle phrase exists to serve the subject in the main clause. But now new revelation just about turns my "English" world around, whoa!

AlpheccaStars
Wobbling unsteadily on his cane, the bus let the old man off at his house. (Dangling!!! The adjective phrase modifies "man", not "bus". )

Semantically I seem to have no trouble identifying what noun is being modified, and the sentences read natural in every sense to me. So is this "dangling" participle used pretty common then? That seems to throw the strict rule, which I mentioned above, out the window. Thanks.

Raen

Gori · Answer

I appreciate all the people who contributed to my thread.  Once again, thank you very much<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Participial Construction (#3)

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