English III

Participles Participles are verb forms used to modify nouns. Ex: The swinging sign creaked in the wind. Ex: The unexpected guest made a speech.

Present participles ALWAYS end in –ing. They are the form used with is, am, and are in verb phrases. Ex: is looking, am running, are reading

Past participles usually end in –ed or –d. They are the form used with have, has, and had in verb phrases. Ex: have looked, has stopped, had hopped A few past participles are irregularly formed (torn, sold, burnt, read, etc._ Ex: have flown, had slept, has fought

Participial Phrases Participial phrases are made up of participles and accompanying modifiers. Ex: The jogger running in the puddle is going to be very wet and cold.

Just like in the previous example of simple participles, participial phrases can be made up of present or past participles and accompanying modifiers. Ex: The police scattered the protesters loitering outside the museum. Ex: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park contains rolling hills blanketed by bluish haze.

Simple participles usually appear immediately before the noun/pronoun modified. Participial phrases follow the noun/pronoun modified.

Participial Phrase Fragments Participial phrase fragments occur when a complete thought is not expressed. Ex: Freddy stayed up late. Working on an overdue assignment.

Practice Finish each incomplete sentence by joining it with the complete sentence next to it. 1. Waiting for your turn to see the doctor. You can get nervous. 2. My visits to the doctor always start out the same way. Getting my blood pressure checked by the nurse. 3. Her clothes being so out of style. She decided to buy new ones.

Relative Pronouns A relative pronoun is a pronoun that marks a relative clause with a larger sentence. A relative pronoun provides more information about the antecedent.

Who, whose, whom We can use who (never after a preposition), whose, and whom (after a preposition) for people as a relative pronoun. Ex: John, who is 21 today, is happy. Ex: Susan, whom you know, will try to buy their car. Ex: The man to whom you were writing is the Dean of our school.

Whose Can be used with or without a preposition Can replace a human being or a thing Is always followed by a noun without an article. Ex: John, whose father is a physician, will be here soon. Ex: John, with whose children you play tennis, is a Medical Doctor. Ex: The book, whose author died yesterday, is a masterpiece. Ex: The drug, whose discovery was expected, will cure thousands.

Which Subject Ex: The drug, which was to prove effective, helped to wipe out the disease. Object Ex: The experiment, which he thought was absolutely essential, did not teach us anything.

That That is both a subject and an object. That can replace who, whom, and which. That has to be used after a superlative. That has to be used after the first, the last, the only, it is …, very (adverb), all When that is an object, it can be omitted. The relative that must not be used after a comma (,) or a preposition

Examples It is the best example that I can find. The first scientist that carried out the experiment successfully won a Nobel Prize. The last thing that you should do is stop trying. The only time that the computer crashed I lost all the data that I had stored. You gave me the very thing that I wanted.

That vs. Who The computer scientists, who were asked to design a faster program, were interviewed by the boss. (all the computer scientists were interviewed by the boss) The computer scientists that were asked to design a faster program were interviewed by the boss. (i.e., only those that were asked to work, not the others)

Omitting That The computer that he bought is a very old used computer. The computer he bought is very old.

Using What What is used to ask a question when there are an unknown number or infinite possibilities for an answer. Example: "What movie did you go to see?"

Using Which Which is used if you are choosing between two items, already defined. Example: Which shoes should I wear with this dress— my blue ones or my black ones?

What vs. Which What I like in this place is to be served by nice waitresses! The waitress is pretty here, which is an added attraction! What I like about this house is it size. This house is huge, which is convenient.

Combining Sentences When combining to sentences with the same subject, omit the subject and use a relative pronoun. Ex: I like oranges. Oranges are delicious. I like oranges which are delicious.

Dangling Modifiers Look at the following sentences: Having been thrown in the air, the dog caught the stick. Smashed flat by a passing truck, Big Dog sniffed at what was left of a half-eaten hamburger. The writer has unintentionally said something that he (or she) didn't intend. The dog wasn't "thrown in the air," and Big Dog wasn't "smashed flat

Identifying Dangling Modifiers 1. Check for modifying phrases at the beginning of your sentences. 2. If you find one, underline the first noun that follows it. (That's the one that is being modified.) 3. Make sure the modifier and noun go together logically. If they don't, chances are you have a dangling modifier. 4. Rewrite the sentence.

Revising the sentences Having been thrown in the air, the dog caught the stick. Smashed flat by a passing truck, Big Dog sniffed at what was left of a half-eaten burger. Both sentences begin with a modifying phrase. In number 1, dog is the first noun that follows; in number 2, it's Big Dog. Neither one goes logically with the modifier, so we need to rewrite the sentences. Sometimes you can rework the noun into the phrase itself. Often, you have to completely revise. One possible correction for each sentence is:

Revised Sentences When the stick was thrown in the air, the dog caught it. (Here, the modifying phrase has become a dependent clause. The meaning is clear.) Big Dog sniffed at what was left of a half-eaten burger that had been smashed by a passing truck. (Again, the phrase has been retwritten as a clause.)

There are many ways to get rid of a dangling modifier. How you do it isn't that important, but being able to spot the problem and get rid of it is!

Misplaced Modifiers A modifier is a word or a phrase that describes something else. You should place it as close as possible to what it describes. If you don't, your intended meaning may not be clear. Consider the unintentional meanings in the following: The young girl was walking the dog in a short skirt. The dog was chasing the boy with the spiked collar

Revisions You can see what's wrong. The dog isn't "in a short skirt" and the boy doesn't have a "spiked collar." Because the modifier is misplaced, we have to think for a minute before we get the intended meaning. The correct versions are: The young girl in a short skirt was walking the dog. The dog with the spiked collar was chasing the boy.

Be aware You also need to watch the placement of modifiers such as almost, even, hardly, nearly, often, and only. A couple of examples should be enough: Big Dog almost ran around the yard twenty times. He nearly ate a whole box of treats.

In both sentences--when he "almost ran" and "nearly ate"--nothing happened! He didn't quite get around to doing either thing. What is intended is: Big Dog ran around the yard almost twenty times. He ate nearly a whole box of treats.

Remember: if you give your readers a chance to interpret something in more than one way, they'll usually get it wrong! By placing your modifiers correctly, you'll eliminate this possibility and have a better chance of getting your point across.