MISRELATED PARTICIPLES

1. A participle (or participial construction) is considered to belong to the noun or pronoun that immediately precedes or follows it, and which usually, but not necessarily, is the subject of the sentence.

e.g. Tom, horrified at what he had done, could at first say nothing.

Romeo, believing that Julia was dead, decided to kill himself.

A man, carrying a large parcel, came out of the bus.

The boy, climbing the tree to get birds’ eggs, had a bad fall.

Climbing the tree to get birds’ eggs, the boy had a bad fall.

2. Note that the participle may be separated from the noun or pronoun it belongs to by a predicate (a predicate group),

e.g. Jones and Smith came in, followed by their wives.

My wife had a long walk with Sally, explaining why she didn’t want the children to play together.

3. Sometimes this principle is disregarded and confusion results when a participle is linked to the wrong noun or pronoun, e.g.

Climbing down the tree, one of the eggs broke. (The impression is that ‘one of the eggs’ was ‘climbing down the tree’.)

The right sentence: When he was climbing down the tree, one of the eggs broke.

Looking out of the window of our hotel room, there were lots of mountains. (It sounds like the mountains were looking out of the window.)

The right sentence: When we looked out of the window of our hotel room, we saw that there were lots of mountains.

Waiting for a bus a brick fell on my head (The impression is that ‘the brick was waiting for the bus’.)

The right sentence: As I was waiting for the bus, a brick fell on my head.

Compare with Russian, e.g.

Лежа в канаве, у него слетела шляпа.

Подъезжая к станции, на платформе стояло много людей.

4. In complex sentences a participial clause can have its own subject, e.g.

Nobody having any more to say, the meeting was closed.

All the money having been spent, Paul started looking for work.

A little girl walked past, her doll dragging behind her on the pavement.

TASK 29. Correct the sentences given below.

1. Walking in the fields, a snake bit the girl in the heel.
2. Running into the room, the rug caught her foot and she fell down.
3. Reading the letter a second time, the meaning became clearer.
4. When carrying a gun, it should never be pointed at anyone.
5. When planting these flowers, care must be taken not to damage the roots.
6. Riding in his first race, his horse fell at the last jump.
7. Knowing me to be the fool of the family, the news that I had won a scholarship astonished him.
8. Believing that his last hour had come, his hands began to tremble.
9. Passing under a ladder, a pot of paint fell on my head.
10. Reading in bed, my hands often get very cold.
11. Leaving the cinema, it seemed to him that the film had been exceptionally bad.
12. Barking furiously, I led the dog out of the room.
13. Writing my name in the hotel register, a familiar voice attracted my attention.
14. Shining in the sky, we saw the first star.
15. Pinned to the door by the knife, the man saw a notice.
16. Wondering where to go, an advertisement caught her eye.
17. Sitting by the fire, it all came back to me.
18. Falling from such a height, we thought he would never survive.
19. While sitting at the foot of a hill, a stone fell on him.
20. Sitting in the dentist’s chair, an idea suddenly occurred to me.
21. Getting out of bed, a scorpion suddenly bit me.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 1251