"In the early hours just before dawn, the smell of bacon infuses the air
and flavors it with memories of childhood."

I don't see how you can argue there is an "error" here: it is perfectly
acceptable to front time adverbs (although their default position is
final).

Perhaps the sentence sounds a bit awkward because you expect something
more static after "in the early hours just before dawn", something like
"the air is still and cold".

Just my (non-native) take on it,
Marie


> My own impression of this sentence is that the error isn't as blatant but
> can be clarified nonetheless: "The smell of bacon infuses the air in the
> early hours before dawn and flavors it with memories of childhood," or
> something near that... a compound predicate with prepositional phrases as
> adverbs following both verbs.
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>> > However, a collague insists that it is, pointing out that the
>> introductory> prepositional phrase is modifying the noun phrase
>> subject in this
>> > construction (instead of the verb phrase). My intuition tells
>> me that
>> > adverbial modifiers can break the dangling modifier rule
>> though, or is this
>> > only in spoken English? Is the adverbial modifier too far away
>> from its verb
>> > here? Would you consider this incorrect?
>> >
>> > Is this the same argument that surrounds the word "hopefully,"
>> as in
>> > "Hopefully, I'll pass the test"? I know that many linguists consider
>> > "hopefully" in that example to be a sentence-level modifier
>> and so
>> > acceptable despite traditionalists' complaints.
>> >
>> > I'm confused, but that is not uncommon on a Wednesday morning
>> (when I
>> > forgot my coffee no less). I'm interested to see what other
>> ATEGers think.
>> >
>> > John Alexander
>> > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's
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>> > 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:
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>>
>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>>
>
> John Chorazy
> English III Academy, Honors, and Academic
> Pequannock Township High School
>
> Nulla dies sine linea.
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
> at:
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>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

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