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Anonymous Posted 16 years ago
Grammar
What does this participial phrase modify?
From what I have been told, the following sentence is wrongly structured. Apaprently, the participial phrase "determining the course of plastic industry" is not correctly modifying what it should.
In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers, rather than in small buckets, determining the course of plastic industry.
Please let me know how we can figure out in such cases as to what the participial phrase modifies and how we can correct the above statement, if we want to retain the participial phrase.
Regards.
In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers, rather than in small buckets, determining the course of plastic industry.
Please let me know how we can figure out in such cases as to what the participial phrase modifies and how we can correct the above statement, if we want to retain the participial phrase.
Regards.
Top answer
I don't think you should retain the participial phrase at all, but if you must, then this might do it: In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets , thus determining the course of plastic industry.
- I don't think you should retain the participial phrase at all, but if you must, then this might do it: In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets , thus determining the course of plastic industry.
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9 Answers
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I don't think you should retain the participial phrase at all, but if you must, then this might do it:
In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets, thus determining the course of plastic industry.
In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets, thus determining the course of plastic industry.
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Mister Micawber
In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets, thus determining the course of plastic industry.
I think MM just missed the article.
'thus determining the course of the plastic industy.'
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Thanks for your reply. But as I had mentioned in my original post, for a thorough understanding, I wanted to know that in the current form, what does the participial phrase modify and what is the best way to determine what a participial phrase is modifying.
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You must use common sense: you must assess the meaning of the sentence.
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I am sorry; I am not satisfied by your response. Since participles modify nouns/noun clauses, perhaps that is the perspective that should be looked at to confirm what the participial phrase is modifying...or something like that...I am not able to point my finger on that...and thats what I need help on.
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AnonymousI am sorry; I am not satisfied by your response. Since participles modify nouns/noun clauses, perhaps that is the perspective that should be looked at to confirm what the participial phrase is modifying..In olden days, the preferable way to carry water was in large plastic containers rather than in small buckets,
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Thanks; I understand that the original sentence doesn't work; I just wanted to know 'why' it is wrong from 'grammatical'/'logical' perspective. Is the participial phrase not modifying the correct noun clause or what?
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As the other posters have said, your participial phrase modifies the whole sentence. It could be written in several ways:
In olden days, the ... small buckets, determining the course of the plastic industry.
In olden days, the ...small buckets, thus determining the .....
In olden days, the ...small buckets, an event/fact/development that determined the course of the
In olden days, the ... small buckets, determining the course of the plastic industry.
In olden days, the ...small buckets, thus determining the .....
In olden days, the ...small buckets, an event/fact/development that determined the course of the
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