danglers

[henz988]

Hello everyone,

Please help me with a few dangling participle sentences:

1 Walking or sleeping, this subject was always in my mind.

2 Wiping the sweat from his brow, it seemed to Kunta that his people were always enduring one hardship or another.

3 Born and bred in the countryside, the living style of the country is familiar to him.

4 Using the electric energy, it is necessary to change its form.

5 Faced with many choices in the cosmetic departments, it is easy to forget that there is a whole science to manufacturing them.

6 Trying to sit up, the whole room had reeled.

7 Pushed into the house, the door closed with a bang.

I think they're all dangling participle sentences, so they're all wrong, aren't they? But a book says that they(the above 7 sentences) are acceptable, is it true? I think "an understandable hidden subject" won't do with usages of participles, at least with the 7 sentences. What do you think of it?


Many many thanks.

[henz988]

Dear Gillnetter，

I notice you're a teacher. It's very nice to meet you here.

I read of those sentences in a grammar book by a Chinese. And I even googled out the same sentences on a Chinese blog.It's amazing.I think it could be explained that many Chinese English learners have read of the book.

Back to my question,
First, thank you for pointing out the right and wrong of those sentences, and putting some of them right.
But second, I still need your comments on the acceptable ones (it seems to me you would accept some of them, too.)

Of the seven, would you please explain why about those acceptable?


Thank you.

[Barb_D]

The first one suggests that the subject was awake or asleep, not "I."

Whether I was awake or asleep, I was always thinking about...
Awake or asleep, I was always thinking about...

[henz988]

I have consulted Miss Google and found some information that may be useful here:
1. if the entire sentence is stating the speaker's attitude, then the dangling structure may be acceptable.
2.in sentences started with "it" or "there",still, the "attitude" is a core issue.
With these, I checked the seven sentences again. Please correct me if I my thinking wrong.

1 Walking or sleeping, this subject was always on my mind.
>>> It’s hard to say the sentence is stating the writer’s attitude. But it sounds something like it. So it is on the verge of being acceptable.

2 Wiping the sweat from his brow, it seemed to Kunta that his people were always enduring one hardship or another.
>>> The main clause of this sentence begins with a “it”, and furthermore, the entire sentence speaks of the writer’s attitude. So it is acceptable.

3 Born and bred in the countryside, the living style of the country is familiar to him.
>>> Acceptable. The writer’s attitude.

4 Using the electric energy, it is necessary to change its form.
(When using electrical energy，it is necessary to change its form.)
>>> Basically the same as sentence2.

5 Faced with many choices in the cosmetic departments, it is easy to forget that there is a whole science to the manufacturing of them.
>>> Basically the same as sentence2

6 Trying to sit up, the whole room reeled before him.
>>> Incorrect. It’s not an attitude issue

7 Pushed into the house, the door closed with a bang.
>>> Incorrect. The same as sentence6

Many many thaks