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ClearTips: Edit yourself
Participles
The most notorious dangler is the participle
that introduces a phrase at the beginning of a sentence.
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Dangling
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Attached
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| Walking to work after the blizzard, the
sun's reflection on the snow almost blinded him. |
CHANGE TO
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While walking to work after the blizzard,
he was almost blinded by the sun's reflection on the snow. |
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OR
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While he was walking to work after the
blizzard, the sun's reflection on the snow almost blinded him. |
| Using official data and other information,
these costs were allocated to specific activities. |
CHANGE TO
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Using official data and other information,
we allocated these costs to specific activities. |
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OR
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Official data and other information were
used to allocate these costs to specific activities. |
| Transposing the elements of the main clause, the dangling
clause was tied to the subject by the author. |
CHANGE TO
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By transposing the elements of the main clause, the
author tied the dangling clause to the subject. |
In the foregoing examples on the left, the
dangling constructions have the following unfortunate effects on meaning:
the sun's reflection is walking to work, these costs are using official
data, and the dangling clause is transposing the elements.
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