direstraits007 Wrote:RonPurewal Wrote:there are two requirements for the COMMA + -ING construction:
(1) it should be adverbial, modifying the entire previous clause;
(2) it should be attributed to the subject of the previous clause.
this -ing modifier (in choice e) satisfies both of these conditions, so we're good to go.
Ron,
Can you PLEASE explain these above two conditions of COMMA + ING construction with some other example(s).
I always mess up in the sentences which used this construction. :(
Thanks!
GeeMate.
the
"comma + ing" modifier should only be used when:
(A)
it
MODIFIES THE ENTIRE ACTION of the preceding clause, and it
APPLIES TO THE SUBJECT of that clause;
AND(B)
one of the following is true:
(1) the "ing" action is
SIMULTANEOUS with the main action;
- i ran down the sidewalk, flapping my arms wildly
(2) the "ing" action is a
DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of the main action.
- i got a 100 on the most recent exam, bringing my average up to 91
other examples:
joe ran down the sidewalk, flailing his arms.
--> correct (simultaneous)
my cousin took extra classes every semester in college, graduating in three years.
--> correct, because the "ing" is an actual consequence of the first action.
my cousin ate frozen food every day in college, graduating in three years.
--> incorrect, because there is no relationship (in particular, the second thing is not a consequence of the first thing, and isn't simultaneous either).
see
emily-dickinson-s-letters-to-susan-huntington-dickinson-were-t6529.html for another example.
on that problem, note that (a) and (e) are both grammatically correct, but that (a) doesn't make any rhetorical sense.
