Position of non-restrictive phrases
Hi.
A.
1) Our botany class, talking a walk in the woods, saw a great variety of birds.
2) Oliver and his friends, sitting in the rear of the lecture hall, could not hear the professor.
3) One of the swimmers, feeling tired, started to come back to shore.
4) Mrs. Smith, gossiping maliciously about her neighbors, soon lost their friendship.
5) My best friend, having achieved success early in life, became very bored with life.
6) Mrs. Johnson, not satisfied with the service in the store, complained to the management.
7)The millionaire's son, living a life of great luxury, was often heedless of the suffering of the poor.
Go over the sentences you have made in A and see which nonrestrictive participial phrases may be moved to initial and final position.
Is there any rule regarding the best position of nonrestrictive participial phrases?
To put it another way, could all the participial phrases in the above sentences be moved to initial or final position without any possible change or making the sentence awkward?
Top answer
1) Our botany class , taking a walk in the woods , saw a great variety of birds. a) Taking a walk in the woods , our botany class saw a great variety of birds. b) Our botany class saw a great variety of birds taking a walk in the woods.
- 1) Our botany class , taking a walk in the woods , saw a great variety of birds.
- a) Taking a walk in the woods , our botany class saw a great variety of birds.
- b) Our botany class saw a great variety of birds taking a walk in the woods.
- It's OK if you realize that "bird" is slang for a young woman.
- 2) Oliver and his friends , sitting in the rear of the lecture hall , could not hear the professor.
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1) Our botany class, taking a walk in the woods, saw a great variety of birds.
a) Taking a walk in the woods, our botany class saw a great variety of birds.
b) Our botany class saw a great variety of birds taking a walk in the woods.
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