Editing Grammar
Editing Grammar
A participle is simply a verb used as an adjective. Present participles end in -ing (swimming, running, talking, eating), and past participles typically end in -ed (parked, burned, fitted) or -en (broken, beaten, eaten). A dangling participle is a participle or participial phrase that has no clear referent. Danglers can cause confusion in a sentence and twist the meaning in an unintended fashion. One of the most common forms of dangling participle is a participle (or participial phrase) that introduces a phrase at the beginning of a sentence. Luckily, they are fairly easy to revise. Let's look at some examples in detail and see how this kind of thing can be avoided.
Here's the first example of a participial phrase as a dangling modifier.
Swimming to the bottom of the pool, the rope pulled at the boy.
The problem here is that grammatically the participle swimming is connected to the noun rope, as the rope is the subject of the sentence, and so it is the rope that's doing the swimming, rather than the boy. Reordering the sentence will clarify the meaning and remove the dangler. Here is the revision.
Swimming to the bottom of the pool, the boy felt the rope pulling at him.
The boy has been moved directly after the participial phrase swimming to the bottom of the pool. Now the noun boy is grammatically linked to the participle swimming; it is the boy doing the swimming, not the rope. All is well.
Here's another example.
Jumping from the cliff, the wooden wings spread out from the arms of Icarus.
In this sentence, the introductory participial phrase makes it appear as though the wings are jumping from the cliff. Here is the revision.
Jumping from the cliff, Icarus spread the wooden wings out from his arms.
Now it is Icarus doing the jumping, not the wings. The key to spotting danglers is to inspect sentences that have an introductory word, phrase, or clause. Does the introductory element apply to what follows it? That is, does it refer to the proper subject of the sentence? To fix the problem, either transpose the elements of the main clause or rewrite the sentence to make sure the elements of the sentence agree properly. Let's take a look at one more.
Covered in sugar, the police officer gobbled up the sweet donut.
We know (or at least we hope) that police officers are not covered in sugar while on duty. So the first option is to transpose elements of the sentence.
Covered in sugar, the sweet donut was gobbled up by the police officer.
And here are two additional options for rewriting the sentence.
The police officer gobbled up the sweet donut, which was covered in sugar.
The sweet donut, covered in sugar, was gobbled up by the police officer.
Do you sometimes have difficulty with subject-verb agreement? You are not alone, as subject-verb agreement in the English language is not always straightforward. The basic principle is that singular subjects need singular verbs and plural subjects need plural verbs. In the following examples, the noun matches the verb in plurality.
The dog is brown.
The dogs are brown.
Watch out for indefinite pronouns (or phrases) ending in -one, -body, and -thing. They are singular and require singular verbs.
Everyone is eating dinner.
No one is going to get this ring!
Somebody is knocking on the door.
Everything is going according to plan.
But not all indefinite pronouns behave the same way. All and some are either singular or plural, based on their antecedent.
Some of the coins are missing. (coins is a plural, countable noun)
Some of the milk is gone. (milk is a noncount noun)
The pronouns neither and either are singular and require singular verbs even when they refer to plural nouns.
Neither of the signals is working.
Which scarf do you want? Either is fine with me.
Either of those oranges is perfectly suitable for a snack.
Tense refers to the form of a verb that indicates the time of an action, occurrence, or state of being. A shift in tense occurs when the tenses of verbs within a sentence or paragraph do not logically match, causing confusion. For example, confusion can occur because most present tense verbs add -s or -es when the subject is third person singular:
She speaks quickly.
He studies too little.
Sometimes shifting tense is appropriate, and sometimes it is not. Frequent or unnecessary shifts in tense are quite distracting and can confuse the meaning. Once you commit to a tense, stick with it unless there is a reason to shift. For example, you can shift tenses when you need to describe both a completed action and a habitual action or state of being:
Wolfgang played the piano for the professor, who likes it.
Wolfgang loves his piano, which was tuned yesterday.
Following are some examples of tense confusion:
Confusing: By next week, I will find all the lost pieces of this puzzle.
Revised: By next week, I will have found all the lost pieces of this puzzle.
Confusing: The little boy caught the frisbee and then throws it in the air.
Revised: The little boy caught the frisbee and then threw it in the air.
Confusing: I went into the bank and the next thing I see is a man wearing a mask and demanding money.
Revised: I went into the bank and the next thing I saw was a man wearing a mask and demanding money.
The term number is used to indicate whether there is one (singular) or more than one (plural). Number confusion commonly occurs with nouns and personal pronouns because both change form to show differences in quantity. Confusion with number occurs especially often between a pronoun and its antecedent and between words whose meanings relate to each other. Remember to use singular pronouns to refer to singular antecedents and plural pronouns to refer to plural antecedents.
Incorrect: All the fast food restaurants have a bad reputation.
Revised: All the fast food restaurants have bad reputations.
Number confusion also often occurs with the use of each, each one, and every one. These subjects are singular and the verb should agree in number. Each one of you are responsible is wrong because each one is singular and takes the singular verb is and not are. When possessive pronouns are used referring to a singular subject, as above, the singular pronoun form should be used. A common error is as follows:
Incorrect: Each one should gather their belongings.
Revised: Each one should gather his or her belongings.
Maintaining consistency in person and number is sometimes a bit troublesome with collective nouns since many can be either singular or plural, depending on the context. Once a collective noun is established as singular or plural within a sentence, be sure to maintain consistency throughout. Look at the examples below.
Awkward: The band are going to be on stage in a moment.
Revised: The band is going to be on stage in a moment.
Awkward: The jury is returning to their seats now.
Revised: The jury are returning to their seats now.
Elements of a sentence (groups of words) that do the same work are easier to read if they have the same basic construction. In grammar, parallelism is a balance of two or more similar words, phrases, or clauses. It aids the flow of a sentence and emphasizes the relationship of ideas in parallel elements, thus improving readability.
Parallel sentence elements regularly appear in a list or series, in compound structures, in comparisons using that or as, and in contrasted elements. Faulty parallelism is an error in which two or more parts of a sentence are not parallel in form. If parallelism is ignored, the grammar and coherence of the clause is ruined.
When listing a series of things, actions, or ideas, the items in the list should be expressed in a similar manner. Words such as by, to, that, and because should be repeated in order to signal parallelism.
Faulty: The young lady visited the butcher, the baker, and stopped off at the candlestick maker's shop.
Parallel: The young lady visited the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker.
When making comparisons using the words than or as, be sure the things being compared are logically and grammatically similar.
Faulty: The women in Ontario are smarter than California.
Parallel: The women in Ontario are smarter than the women in California.
Here are some examples of how to repair parallel constructions that have coordinating conjunctions.
Example: She jumped high, and he did not jump very high.
Revision: She jumped high, and he jumped low.
Example: The short, the fat, and tall people.
Revision: The short, the fat, and the tall.
When linking two words or word groups using and, each word or word group must have the same grammatical function.
He enjoys playing golf and tennis. (two nouns)
He hunts and fishes skillfully. (two verbs)
He searched in the drawers and behind the dresser. (two prepositional phrases)
He is a man who has achieved great success and whom we all admire. (two dependent clauses)
He will return to London, and she will return to Manchester. (two independent clauses)
When using correlative conjunctions (not only . . . but also; both . . . and; neither . . . nor; either . . . or), the construction that follows the first half of the pair should be exactly balanced by the construction that follows the second half of the pair. Here, we look at correlative conjunctions.
Faulty: She is either a night owl or morning person.
Parallel: She is either a night owl or a morning person.
Faulty: He is not only a plumber but also he is an electrician.
Parallel: He is not only a plumber but also an electrician.
Faulty: I think we should both go to the concert and we can also eat dinner.
Parallel: I think we should both go to the concert and eat dinner.
Grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words. Proper sentence construction, good grammar, flow, and balance are key in all writing. Poor grammatical construction results from joining unequal elements in a way that causes confusion. Contributing factors include sentence length, wordiness, and unclear pronoun antecedents. Following are some tips to produce well-constructed sentences:
Use the positive rather than the negative.
Say: "A check is valid only if someone signs it."
Instead of: "A check is not valid unless someone signs it."
Avoid double and triple negatives. But remember that sometimes a double negative doesn't equal a positive.
Say: "The Board has indicated that the applicant has been successful."
Instead of: "The Board has not indicated that the applicant has not been successful."
Avoid complicated or unusual grammatical constructions.
Don't put long phrases in parentheses in the middle of sentences.
Use the active voice rather than the passive voice.
Say: "The principal served the notice."
Instead of: "The notice was served by the principal."
Put adverbial phrases after the verb when there's no ambiguity.
Say: "The trainer may issue the certificate within 30 days of verifying the results."
Instead of: "The trainer may, within 30 days of verifying the results, issue the certificate."
Avoid excessive shortness if adding some words would make a phrase or sentence easier to understand.
Keep related words as close together as possible.
Examples:
a. keep the subject close to the verb
b. keep auxiliary verbs (is, are, must, has, etc.) close to the main verbs
c. keep modifiers close to the words they modify
Use parallel structures to express similar ideas.
Example: Don't mix conditions and exceptions, or "if" and "unless" clauses, in the same sentence.
Avoid noun strings (nouns strung together to act as adjectives).
Example: Say "grants for programs for providing child care" not "child care delivery program grants."
Avoid the false subject "there is," "there are," etc. It adds extra words, and usually creates an unnecessary relative.
Example: Don't say "if there are any conditions that do not comply with this section" but say "if any conditions do not comply with this section."
Don't use the "such . . . as" form when it's not necessary.
Example: Say "take appropriate steps" not "take such steps as are appropriate" and say "conditions determined by the Minister," not "such conditions as are determined by the Minister."
Don't use demonstrative adjectives if you don't have to.
Example: Say "the business" or "the warning," not "that business" or "that warning" (but "that time" is usually less ambiguous than "the time"). Apart from being more logical, this avoids the occasional occurrence of the expression "that that" as in the phrase "has the result that that business..."
When you use "other than," make it clear which words are qualified by the phrase.
Example: Say "a person (other than a teacher) who is under 60," not "a person other than a teacher who is under 60."
Don't use "being" and "not being" to join relative clauses.
Example: Don't say "a person who is 70 or over, being a person who has a driver's license" BUT SAY "a person who is 70 or over and has a driver's license."
Restrictive clauses limit the possible meaning of a preceding subject. Nonrestrictive clauses say something about a preceding subject but do not limit or restrict the meaning of that subject. Compare these examples:
Correct Restrictive Use:
The man in the limousine who has red hair is the President.
Be aware that the subject man in the above sentence is restricted in two ways. We know this man is both in the limousine and has red hair. Thus, we know that other men, who are not in the limousine, could not be the President. Moreover, of those men in the limousine, we know that the one man in the limousine with red hair is the President. If there were more than one man with red hair in the limousine, the above usage would be incorrect because it implies a different meaning.
Correct Nonrestrictive Use:
The man in the limousine, who has red hair, is the President.
Here, the restrictive clause in the limousine tells us that of all possible men in the world, the one who is the President is in the limousine. The nonrestrictive clause who has red hair tells us something about the President, but since the first clause indicates there is only one man in the limousine, the hair color is simply extra information.
When deciding between that and which, use that to introduce a restrictive clause and which to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. Although some writers use which to introduce a restrictive clause, the traditional practice is to use that to introduce a restrictive clause and which to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. When writing a restrictive clause, do not place a comma before that. When writing a nonrestrictive clause, place a comma before which.
Correct Restrictive Use:
The store honored the coupons that were less than 60 days old.
Correct Nonrestrictive Use:
The store honored the coupons, which were less than 60 days old.
These sentences have different meanings as well as different punctuation. In the restrictive sentence, the store honored only those coupons less than 60 days old but did not honor those over 60 days old. In the nonrestrictive sentence, the store honored all the coupons, all of which were less than 60 days old.
Place proper punctuation around nonrestrictive clauses, but do not place punctuation around restrictive clauses. When a nonrestrictive clause appears in the middle of a sentence, place commas around it. When a nonrestrictive clause appears at the end of a sentence, place a comma before it and a period after it. Do not punctuate restrictive clauses.
Correct Punctuation of Nonrestrictive Clause:
The smiley face sign, which was popularized in the 1960s, is universally recognized.
Correct Punctuation of Nonrestrictive Clause:
My money is in my purse, which is on the kitchen counter.
Correct Punctuation of Restrictive Clause:
The poem that appeared in Thursday's newspaper is the one to which I referred in the lesson.
Always check your referent. If the sentence seems off kilter, it could be the result of a vague or misleading modifier. Strictly organized sentence elements are your best guard against this type of error.
Subject-verb agreement errors are commonly pronoun agreement errors. Remember the pronouns that are always singular and always plural, as well as the pronouns that change depending upon context.
Parallel structures are easy to create as long as you have an eye for consistency. We make sure that entire sentences are consistent with one another. Why wouldn't we make sure that the sentences were internally consistent as well? Remember that parallel structures are not just needed in sentences with lists. They are needed in sentences with any coordinating conjunction. Coordinating conjunctions are supposed to coordinate, so if the structures don't match, something must be changed.
Dangling modifiers are easy to avoid as long as you take the time to ensure that all modifiers have a specific and easily identifiable antecedent. If there is no specific antecedent or the sentence sounds completely wacky, you know you might have a dangling modifier on your hands.
This list of grammatical errors is clearly not exhaustive, but covers a good number of the errors that you'll run into. One of the following lessons deals with common ESL errors, and will also cover a few additional grammar errors.
Last Updated: 09/29/2022