Essentials of Writing

Greetings Blue Review Readers!

This column aims to provide tips for Blue Phantom members on the subtle workings of the written word. In each issue, "Essentials of Writing" will cover a different aspect of punctuation, usage, grammar or style.

Haven’t we all heard that grammar is boring? The very word grammar can put someone to sleep or make him head for the hills. But then, trying to make sentences and paragraphs perfect is like playing with a writer’s jigsaw puzzle. All the pieces have to fit together to make the final picture.

Good writing requires the writer’s imagination, a story, characters and appropriate vocabulary. One of the secrets to bringing all this together lies in good usage, grammar, and punctuation. Just as a high-rise building rests securely on a strong foundation, so a finished story or article rests on solid writing basics. The structure of language forms a cornerstone of skillful communication.

On we go to the putting together the writer’s jigsaw puzzle!

Participles and the Elusive Dangling Participle

You may be wondering why I call the dangling participle "elusive." This is because it can be easily missed in a sentence. Let’s not allow a single mischievous dangling participle to escape our discerning eyes!

Part 1 below clarifies what a participle is. Part 2 illustrates the elusive dangling participle and how to avoid using it.

Part 1 — What is a Participle?

A participle is a verb form, for example, "flying," "speaks," "played," "watch" or "dreamt." A participle can be used with an auxiliary verb, also called a helping verb (such as "had," "are," "is" and "were"). A participle can also be used on its own as an adjective. Look at a few examples.

The Participle with an Auxiliary Verb

Example #1: The boys had played well and were rewarded with the Champion’s Trophy.

Explanation: The auxiliary verbs are "had" and "were." The past participles are "played" and "rewarded." These are "past" participles because the action has occurred in the past.

Example #2: The jeweler is closing his shop early, because he leaves tonight for Boston.

Explanation: The present participles are "closing" and "leaves." Note that "leaves" does not require an auxiliary verb. It is simply a verb form — or participle — in the present tense. You can see that "is" is an auxiliary verb linked to "closing."

The Participle as an Adjective

Read the examples below.

Example # 1: Nancy put the baked potatoes in a serving bowl.

Explanation: The participles that act as adjectives are "baked" (past participle) and "serving" (present participle). They act as adjectives because "baked" describes the noun "potatoes" and "serving" describes the noun "bowl."

The verb form "put" is a past participle, but it neither acts as an adjective (because it does not describe anything), nor does it have an auxiliary verb.

Example # 2: Fred arranged the blooming roses in a vase and discarded the withered leaves.

Explanation: "Blooming" is a present participle that acts as an adjective because it describes the noun "roses." "Withered" is a past participle that acts as an adjective because it describes the noun "leaves."

The verb forms "arranged" and "discarded" are past participles, but they neither function as adjectives, nor do they have auxiliary verbs.

Now that we are clear about which words are participles in a sentence, let us move on to the elusive dangling participle and avoid this common error in writing.

Part 2 - The Elusive Dangling Participle

Discover how to spot a dangling participle by looking at the following examples.

Example #1

Incorrect: When reading, it must be remembered that a child wrote the story.

Explanation: The dangling present participle is "reading." Look for the subject of the verb "reading." The structure of this sentence conveys that the subject of the verb "reading" is "it"; in other words, the sentence says that "it" is reading. But we know that "it" is not reading. Moreover, we can’t find anyone in the sentence who is doing the action of "reading." Therefore, we see that "reading" is a dangling participle. It needs a subject. How can the problem be corrected?

Correct: When reading, you must remember that a child wrote the story.

Explanation: Here, "you" are doing the action of "reading," so the participle "reading" is not dangling. The participle has a subject.

Example #2

Incorrect: Having developed great techniques, Tom’s article inspired me to write.

Explanation: The dangling past participle is "developed." Why? The way the sentence is written, it says "Tom’s article" has "developed" great techniques. Clearly, this is not what the writer intended to say. She meant to convey that Tom has developed great techniques. How can we fix the sentence?

Correct: Having developed great techniques, Tom inspired me to write through his article.

Explanation: In this sentence, who has "developed" great techniques? "Tom" has. The participle "developed" is not dangling because it has a subject, "Tom."

By the way, did you notice that "having" is an auxiliary verb linked to the participle "developed"? And that "inspired" is a past participle that neither has an auxiliary verb nor acts as an adjective?

How to Avoid the Dangling Participle

The key to avoiding dangling participles is to find and examine each one in your writing. Look for the subject of each participle. Ask yourself who or what does the action conveyed by the participle. If a participle is dangling, fix the sentence. If it has a suitable subject, congratulations!

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