Participle Modifiers SCs

Question

Dear All,

Most of the SCs I am getting wrong are particile modifiers SCs. Could somebody tell me to some concrete rules to arrive at the answer?

ps_dahiya · Answer

Somebody help me please!!!!! :help2

Yurik79 · Answer

and me 2 <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" />

dwivedys · Answer

Dahiya boss..may be i can help here and that would be a great honor for me..

From my understanding - when an opening phrase contains a participle, this phrase is generally separated from the rest of the sentence by commas; we need to be careful that 

a) this phrase modifies the CORRECT subject otherwise the sentence will result in a misplaced modifier 

Driving at break-neck speed, the car rammed into the one parked outside the gate

Here - driving needs to modify a subject that can actually drive and not - as it does in the sentence above "the car". This is a Misplaced modifier problem.

The sentence can be re-worked to say, 

Driving at break-neck speed, Saurabh rammed the car into the one parked outside the gate.

b) Indeed there exists a valid subject that the opening phrase can modify otherwise the sentence will result in the infamous Dangling modifier 


Having seen the movie twice, there was no inclination to see the movie again.

Here, there IS no subject that Having can modify - Dangling Modifier/Dangling Participle problem

Can be reworked as -
Having seen the movie twice, she had no inclination to see the movie again.


c) the appropriate subject should be as close as possible to this opening phrase.


Having tried all possible combinations, the answers weren't coming as she might have expected. 

As we can see -- it could not be "the answers" that had tried all the possible combinations; it had to "she" who must have tried it. Hence, she should be placed immediately after the comma

Having tried all possible combinations, she realized that the answers weren't coming..


Rule of thumb, when you see an opening participial modifier - be on the lookout for THE RIGHT and PLAUSIBLE subject it ought to modify.

Participle Modifiers SCs

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