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Pokh Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.
In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.
Ets says In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers is a dangling modifier in first sentence...whereas "In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers" is not dangling in second sentence.... Guys, Can you help me understand the reason behind it?
Thank you
In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers, the question of whether they are better off materially than the urban working poor is irrelevant.
Ets says In assessing the problems faced by rural migrant workers is a dangling modifier in first sentence...whereas "In an assessment of the problems faced by rural migrant workers" is not dangling in second sentence.... Guys, Can you help me understand the reason behind it?
Thank you
Top answer
Strictly speaking, they are right, since the unnamed subject of a nonfinite clause must be the same as the subject of the main clause, here 'question'. Since a question cannot assess anything, the participle dangles. That said, however, such a sentence is quite common and accepted without concern by readers who understand the common sense of the utterance.
- Strictly speaking, they are right, since the unnamed subject of a nonfinite clause must be the same as the subject of the main clause, here 'question'.
- Since a question cannot assess anything, the participle dangles.
- That said, however, such a sentence is quite common and accepted without concern by readers who understand the common sense of the utterance.
- ETS has a vested interest in prescriptive grammar; without it, they would have much less that they could test.
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1 Answers
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Strictly speaking, they are right, since the unnamed subject of a nonfinite clause must be the same as the subject of the main clause, here 'question'. Since a question cannot assess anything, the participle dangles.
That said, however, such a sentence is quite common and accepted without concern by readers who understand the common sense of the utterance. ETS has a vested interest in p
That said, however, such a sentence is quite common and accepted without concern by readers who understand the common sense of the utterance. ETS has a vested interest in p
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