Participle and Participial Phrase

Participle（分词）作为动词的一种形式，它有两种作用，一种是用作 adjective，一种是作为某种 tense 的一部分：

A participle is a form of a verb used as either an adjective (“the hidden treasure”) or a part of certain tenses (“we are hiding the treasure”). Participles have two different types, the present participle and past participle, and participles used as adjectives can form a longer participle phrase (“Hidden in the bushes, the treasure was hard to see”).

Participle 除了可以单独作为形容词外，还可以用来组成 adjective phrase. 由 particle 组成的 adjective phrase 也被称为 participial phrase.

Participial phrases 是以 participle 开头的一组单词，用来修饰名词：

Similar to other adjective phrases, participial phrases are groups of words starting with a participle that work together to describe a noun.

例如：

• We tried to avoid the person wearing a clown costume.

Participial phrases 中也可以包含 prepositional phrases（介词短语），用于描述分词的动作，例如动作在什么时候或者什么地方发生。例如：

• Walking on the beach, we saw the clown again.

需要注意的是，如果 participial phrase 在句子的开头，那么需要在它的后面使用逗号：

Use a comma after a participial phrase if it comes at the beginning of a sentence.

然而，如果 participial phrase 跟在它所修饰名词的后面，则逗号并不是必要的。

However, if the participial phrase comes after the noun it’s modifying, no comma is necessary.

例如：

• The scary clown saw us walking on the beach.

另外注意：一定要将 participial phrase 直接放置在它所修饰的名词旁边，否则可能会犯一个语法错误，即 dangling participle（悬垂分词）：

Always place a participial phrase directly next to the noun it’s modifying, or else you risk creating a grammatical mistake known as the dangling participle.

Dangling Participle

Dangling participle（悬垂分词）是一种语法错误。它是指由于 participial phrase 位置防止错误而修饰了错误的名词。我们要始终记住，participial phrase 直接修饰它们旁边的名词，所以如果将它们放在错误的位置，它们的意思就会改变。

A dangling participle, also known as a dangling modifier, is when a participial phrase modifies the wrong noun because it is placed incorrectly. Remember that participial phrases modify the noun directly next to them, so if they’re placed in the wrong spot, their meaning changes.

例如：

• Driving down the highway, my dog stuck her head out the window.

这里 Driving down the highway 就用来修饰 my dog，这是不可能的，因此这个 dangling participle 使用就不正确。

当句子以 participial phrase 开头时，我们就要小心跟在它后面的名词。

When starting a sentence with a participial phrase, always be careful about what noun comes after it.

我们可能需要重写上面的句子：

• While I was driving down the highway, my dog stuck her head out the window.

这里重写的方法是将省略的主语补上，构成两个 clause，分别是 dependent clause 和 independent clause，之后在前面的 dependent clause 之前添加上一个 subordinating conjunction，即 while，连接两个clause.

Dangling Modifier

实际上，dangling participle 是 dangling modifier（悬挂修饰符）的一种。Dangling modifier 是指修饰词或者修饰词组附加在错误的主语上，或者句子中缺少主语：

It’s a grammatical error where the modifying word or phrase is attached to the wrong subject or where the subject is missing in a sentence.

修饰符悬挂主要有两种情况，一是修饰词或者修饰词组理它所修饰的词或者词组太远；二是主语不包含要修饰的逻辑主语。在这些情况下，悬挂修饰符都会误导读者。

There are two common reasons for dangling modifiers. The first is due to the modifying word or phrase being placed too far from the word or group of words it’s meant to modify. The second happens when the sentence doesn’t include a logical subject to modify.

Common Cases

Distant modifier

• Taylor was upset with Fred when he returned her damaged car with an air of nonchalance.

在这个句子中，with an air of nonchalance 表示“带着若无其事的样子”，但显然汽车是没有感情的，作者是想使用它来修饰 Fred，因此 with an air of nonchalance 就是一个悬挂修饰符。

Missing subject

• Walking into the room, the smell was overpowering.

上面的句子中就缺少主语，看起来就像是在说 smell 在走进了屋子，但这也是不合理的。因此，participial phrase——Walking into the room——缺乏主语，是上文所提到的 dangling participle. 大多数悬垂修饰语的情况都可以通过确定我们想要修饰的主语来解决，确保它出现在句子中，并将修饰语紧接在主语的前面或后面。

Most cases of dangling modifiers can be fixed by identifying the subject you want to modify, making sure it’s present, and placing the modifier immediately before or after it in the sentence.

例如上面的句子就可以修改为：

• Walking into the room, they encountered an overpowering smell.

Common Solutions

Identify and include a logical subject

有时候，dangling modifer 的存在会使得句子看起来很荒唐，这是因为句子的 logical subject 不明晰。例如：

• While walking along the shore, the clumps of seaweed tripped me and I fell.

就听起来像是说，seaweed 在海边散步，然后有意地将 me 绊倒了，但这明显不是作者想表达的意思。修改时应该把“我”作为 logical subject，而不是作为 object：

• While walking along the shore, I tripped on some clumps of seaweed and fell.

Put the modifier close to the word or phrase it modifies

造成修饰符悬挂的原因是修饰符与被修饰的单词太远了，因此纠正修饰符悬挂的一个方法就是把修饰符放在要修饰的单词更近的位置。例如：

• When you call the apartment manager, tell him that you won’t pay any more rent until he fixes your toilet firmly.

这个句子听起来像是说 tenant’s toilet comming loose，想让 apartment manager 把它拧紧，但是这样的表述方式是有些奇怪的。如果将它改作：

• When you call the apartment manager, firmly tell him that you won’t pay any more rent until he fixes your toilet.

让 firmly 表示“态度坚决”，句子就合理很多。

Turn two clauses into one cohesive sentence

第三种解决方法就是将两个子句连接成一个连贯的句子。例如：

• To improve his score, the test was taken again.

这个句子就缺乏主语，我们可以改成：

• He improved his score by retaking the test.

或者：

• He retook the test to improve his score.

References

[1] Participle: Definition, Types, and Examples - Grammarly

[2] How to Eliminate Dangling Modifiers from Your Writing - Grammarly Blog.