Chicago Style Workout 6:
Spot the Danglers!

/ June 28, 2016

Jenny on the job: Lifts weight the easy way

Are you ready for some heavy lifting?

This workout centers on paragraphs 5.114–20 of CMOS 18. Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that section of the Manual before answering the questions.

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Now updated to refer and link to the 18th edition.

Chicago Style Workout 6: Spot the Danglers!

1. The present participle ends in ‑ing (covering), and the past participle usually ends in ‑ed (covered).
2. A participle may be used as part of a verb phrase (the meter is running).
3. A present participle used as a noun (running is great exercise) is called a gerund.
4. Participial phrases are also used as adjectives (nailed to the roof, the slate stopped the leaks) and as absolute phrases (generally speaking, I prefer spicy dishes).
5. A participle that has no syntactical relationship with the nearest subject is called a dangling participle or a dangler.
6. Participles are subject to dangling; gerunds are not.
7. Frequently used in early America, experts suggest that shaming is an effective punishment.
8. After finishing the research, the screenplay was easy to write.
9. Reviewing the suggestions, it is clear that no consensus exists.
10. While I was driving to San Antonio, my phone ran out of power.

 

Photo: Jenny on the Job—Lifts Weight the Easy Way, Office for Emergency Management, Office of War Information, Domestic Operations Branch, Bureau of Special Services, March 9, 1943–Sept. 15, 1945, from RG: 44, World War II Posters, National Archives Identifier: 514678;  Local Identifier: 44-PA-1141B.

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