John: Hi Faith! Are you going rock climbing?
Faith: Yes, I’m going on a ropeless rock climbing trip. No safety equipment at all!
John: That sounds dangerous.
Faith: Not if I don’t let go.
John: I guess. You know, there’s an area of grammar that connects with rock climbing: dangling participles. Let’s start with a different kind of example to explain:
The barking dog woke up the whole neighborhood.
Here, the participle “barking” acts like an adjective that describes the noun “dog.”
But imagine you heard the following sentence:
Barking loudly, the whole neighborhood woke up.
Faith: This example is known as a dangling participle. The subject of the participle “barking loudly” is missing. The subject of this sentence is “the whole neighborhood.” But it is not the whole neighborhood that is barking – such a situation would be truly bizarre!
John: So, a dangling participle is a kind of verb that does not have a stated subject. The dangling participle has lost its point of connection with the sentence – just like a rock climber letting go of the rock!
Here is one way to correct the sentence:
Barking loudly, the dog woke up the whole neighborhood.
Faith: Our rock climbing comparison can help you. To succeed in a climb, the rock climber must stay close to the rock and keep points of connection.
Participial phrases and other structures that act like adjectives are generally clearest when they stay close to the noun they are describing.
John: And that’s Everyday Grammar TV.
Originally published at https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a...