Comprehension etc.

[jiang]

Dear teachers,
I have three question to ask:

No.1
Her witness for the beauty and intergrity of life continues to inspire new gereations.

I can find the collocation of 'witness for sth'. Could you please explain it?

No.2
And even this, were it by some miracle possible would be futile.
I guess I can write the sentence this way:
Even if it were possible by some miracle it would be futile. Is that right? If it is, could you please explain 'by some miracle'? Does it mean ' when some miracle appears'?

No.3
In my grammar book there is an expression 'dangling participle'. Could you please give me an example to explain the term?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,
I have three question to ask:

No.1
Her witness for the beauty and intergrity of life continues to inspire new gereations.

I can find the collocation of 'witness for sth'. Could you please explain it?

No.2
And even this, were it by some miracle possible would be futile.
I guess I can write the sentence this way:
Even if it were possible by some miracle it would be futile. Is that right? If it is, could you please explain 'by some miracle'? Does it mean ' when some miracle appears'?

No.3
In my grammar book there is an expression 'dangling participle'. Could you please give me an example to explain the term?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

1. I have no idea what that means. That does not appear to be a correct ue of "witness".

2. Yes, your rephrase is correct. "By some miracle" means "through the action of a miracle".

3. A dangling participle is a participle or a participial phrase for which there is no logical noun to modify. Thus, it is a modifier that just dangles in a sentence.

Lighting a cigar, the car drove off the road.

There is nothing in the sentence for "lighting a cigarette" to modify.

Lighting a cigar, John drove the car off the road.

Another problem with participles is called a misplaced modifier (though some also call this a dangling participle). The proper noun or pronoun is in the sentence, but the modifying participle is in the wrong place.

Flying around a flower, John saw a bee.
John saw a bee walking through the park.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,

Thank you very much for your explanation.
No.1 It must be a mistake.
No.2 I am glad my rephrase is correct.
No.3 I'd like to explain what I understand to make sure I understand your explanation correctly.
There are past participles and present participles in English. A dangling participle refers to present participle as in your example 'lighting a car'. Is that right?
I am quoting the part in my grammar to make sure I understand the explanation:

given time: This is a past participle phrase. Further examples,
Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.
In this structure, dangling participle should be avoided. The participle should be correctly related to the subject of teh sentence, denoting a condition for the subject.

After I read your explanation I think what the book meant is I can write 'Giving time' because that would mean 'The boy gives time to others'. Is that right?


Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

1. I have no idea what that means. That does not appear to be a correct ue of "witness".

2. Yes, your rephrase is correct. "By some miracle" means "through the action of a miracle".

3. A dangling participle is a participle or a participial phrase for which there is no logical noun to modify. Thus, it is a modifier that just dangles in a sentence.

Lighting a cigar, the car drove off the road.

There is nothing in the sentence for "lighting a cigarette" to modify.

Lighting a cigar, John drove the car off the road.

Another problem with participles is called a misplaced modifier (though some also call this a dangling participle). The proper noun or pronoun is in the sentence, but the modifying participle is in the wrong place.

Flying around a flower, John saw a bee.
John saw a bee walking through the park.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,

Thank you very much for your explanation.
No.1 It must be a mistake.
No.2 I am glad my rephrase is correct.
No.3 I'd like to explain what I understand to make sure I understand your explanation correctly.
There are past participles and present participles in English. A dangling participle refers to present participle as in your example 'lighting a car'. Is that right?
I am quoting the part in my grammar to make sure I understand the explanation:

given time: This is a past participle phrase. Further examples,
Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.
In this structure, dangling participle should be avoided. The participle should be correctly related to the subject of teh sentence, denoting a condition for the subject.

After I read your explanation I think what the book meant is I can write 'Giving time' because that would mean 'The boy gives time to others'. Is that right?


Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I used present participles because they are the most common problem. Past participles can also be modifiers and they can be dangled or misplaced also.

The two examples given are correct.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

I used present participles because they are the most common problem. Past participles can also be modifiers and they can be dangled or misplaced also.

The two examples given are correct.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,

I forget to mention one point. The following is from my grammar book:

given time: This is a past participle phrase. Further examples,
Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.

In this structure, dangling participle should be avoided. The participle should be correctly related to the subject of teh sentence, denoting a condition for the subject.

My quesiton is: why in this structure dangling participle should be avoided?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,

Thank you very much for your explanation.
No.1 It must be a mistake.
No.2 I am glad my rephrase is correct.
No.3 I'd like to explain what I understand to make sure I understand your explanation correctly.
There are past participles and present participles in English. A dangling participle refers to present participle as in your example 'lighting a car'. Is that right?
I am quoting the part in my grammar to make sure I understand the explanation:

given time: This is a past participle phrase. Further examples,
Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.
In this structure, dangling participle should be avoided. The participle should be correctly related to the subject of teh sentence, denoting a condition for the subject.

After I read your explanation I think what the book meant is I can write 'Giving time' because that would mean 'The boy gives time to others'. Is that right?


Looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,

I forget to mention one point. The following is from my grammar book:

given time: This is a past participle phrase. Further examples,
Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.

In this structure, dangling participle should be avoided. The participle should be correctly related to the subject of teh sentence, denoting a condition for the subject.

My quesiton is: why in this structure dangling participle should be avoided?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

I hope they were just pointing out that one should avoid dangling a participle when a sentence starts with one. The example is not a dangling participle.

[jiang]

Dear Mike,

Did you mean in 'Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.' 'Given opportunities' isn't dangling participle?

Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

I hope they were just pointing out that one should avoid dangling a participle when a sentence starts with one. The example is not a dangling participle.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear Mike,

Did you mean in 'Given opportunities, the boy will make a good artist.' 'Given opportunities' isn't dangling participle?

Jiang

No, it modifies "the boy", IMO.

[curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by jiang

Her witness for the beauty and intergrity of life continues to inspire new gereations.


Jiang

'Her witness' here means that she is giving evidence. The evidence is that her beauty and integrity inspires new generations.