[Grammar] participle clauses with despite.

[saloom2]

Hello everyone,


I want to understand something related to participle clauses. Does the participle clause refer to the pronoun or the object of the dependent clause?

For instance,


Despite being an option to energy independence, we should understand the pros and cons of using wind turbines. It means here "Despite the fact that we are an option to", not "wind turbines are an option", isn't it?

 

[MikeNewYork]

In general, an adjectival particpial phrase (not clause) logically attaches to the nearest possible noun or pronoun. In this sentence the participial phrase would be called a misplaced modifier (sometimes called a dangling participle) because it seems to describe "we" rather than "wind turbines". So you are correct. Can you think of a way to rephrase the sentence to fix the problem?

 

[saloom2]

I can use even though instead, but I want to use despite to give the sentence a note of formality. I can't rephrase it with despite.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Using though won't fix it. How about:

Despite being an option to energy independence, wind turbines have pros and cons that we need to understand.