Dear John and Paul:
Here are some added thoughts on your "dressed in pretty frocks" sentence.
That participial phrase at the end of the sentence is nonrestrictive (hence
the commas). A nonrestrictive participial phrase that modifies the subject
noun headword can follow the headword, the position I call its home base:
The girls, dressed in pretty frocks, marched around the oval.
It can open the sentence:
Dressed in pretty frocks, the girls . . .
Or, as in your example, it can close the sentence. That versatility makes
participial phrases a terrific tool for writers to understand and use.
Interestingly, such a nonrestrictive participial phrase appears only in the
subject noun phrase; a restrictive one (no commas), on the other hand, can
modify any noun in the sentence:
I know those girls dressed in pretty frocks. (direct object)
I talked to the girls dressed in pretty frocks. (object of prep)
But notice what happens when we add a comma to make it nonrestrictive
(i.e., when the girls are already defined for the reader and the modifier
simply comments):
I know those girls, dressed in pretty frocks.
This sentence makes no sense, because now the "dressed" phrase appears to
modify "I"--and it obviously doesn't.
Here's another example:
Jim washed the car standing in the driveway. (The car is in the driveway)
Jim washed the car, standing in the driveway. (Jim is in the driveway)
It's interesting to note that sometimes that participial phrase is more
clearly an adverbial clause in its deep structure:
Jim washed the car while he was standing in the driveway.
Than it is an adjectival (relative) clause:
The girls who are dressed in pretty frocks marched around the oval.
Note also a difference between the restrictions on the two kinds of
modifiers, the relative clause and the participial phrase: That who-clause
is rarely moved from its postnoun position, even when it's nonrestrictive:
The girls, who are dressed in pretty frocks, marched around the oval.
*The girls marched around the oval, who are dressed in pretty frocks.
But those nonrestrictive participles are movable and versatile--a tool that
our students should hear about.
Martha Kolln
>Thank you Paul,
>
>"The girls marched around the oval, dressed in pretty frocks."
>
>This is ambiguous because it implies that the oval is "dressed in pretty
>frocks".
>
>So are they both incorrect?
>
>Thanks for the input!
>
>Cheers,
>
>John
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
>[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Paul E. Doniger
>Sent: Thursday, 26 July 2001 12:48
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: Webclass
>
>
>John,
>
>The website looks interesting and is fun to play around in, but you should
>know that the following sentence is NOT correct (your "English Game" says it
>is correct): "Digging in the garden, a brooch was found."
>
>The sentence contains a 'dangling modifier' -- who exactly IS digging in the
>garden? This sentence suggests it was a brooch, which could only be true in
>a magical situation.
>
>The correct sentence in this part of the game should have been: "The girls
>marched around the oval, dressed in pretty frocks."
>
>Keep on plugging!
>
>Paul E. Doniger
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: john kinny-lewis <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 8:53 PM
>Subject: Webclass
>
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> My name is John Kinny-Lewis.
>>
>> I have just launched a new version of my old site.
>>
>> The address is http://www.webclass.asn.au
>>
>> It is an educational site which includes english grammar.
>>
>> Any feedback would be appreciated, particularly 'typos'.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> John
>>
>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
>at:
>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>> and select "Join or leave the list"
>>
>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>>
>
>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
>at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>and select "Join or leave the list"
>
>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
>and select "Join or leave the list"
>
>Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"
Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
|
