Quote:
Originally Posted by Lenka  Carrying a heavy pile of books, his foot caught on a step.
I read this sentence on the internet (on a website dealing with verbals :)) and just this sentence was marked with an asterisk.
(There was an axplanation, that sentences marked with asterisk are either ambiguous or peculiar.)
I just wonder whether this senetence (it sounds quite weird to me, but I am not a native speaker...) is ambiguous (has to meanings) or is considered peculiar, nonstandard. |
This is what is called a dangling participle or a misplaced modifier.
As the sentence is written, his foot is carrying the books. This can be easily repaired:
While he was carrying a heavy pile of books, his foot caught on a step.