Chicago Style Workout 6:
Spot the Danglers!

/ June 28, 2016

lift weight the easy wayAre you ready for some heavy lifting?

Today’s workout centers on paragraphs 5.110–16 of CMOS 17. Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that section of the Manual before answering the questions.

(Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

[Editor’s update: This quiz has now been updated to refer and link to the 17th edition.]

Chicago Style Workout 6: Spot the Danglers!

Note: The first six items are true/false statements; the last four ask you to judge whether the example is or is not a dangler.

1. The present participle ends in ‑ing {covering}, and the past participle usually ends in ‑ed {covered}.
a.
b.
2. A participle may be used as part of a verb phrase {the meter is running}.
a.
b.
3. A present participle used as a noun {running is great exercise} is called a gerund.
a.
b.
4. Participial phrases are also used as adjectives {drenched with sun, the corn thrived} and as absolute phrases {generally speaking, I prefer spicy dishes}.
a.
b.
5. A participle that has no syntactical relationship with the nearest subject is called a dangling participle or a dangler.
a.
b.
6. Participles are subject to dangling; gerunds are not.
a.
b.
7. {Valued for their keen sense of smell, trainers recommend beagles for airport security work.}
a.
b.
8. {After subtracting his expenses from his estimated income, Omar’s budget had to be revised.}
a.
b.
9. {Writing out the answers, it was clear that I would ace the exam.} 
a.
b.
10. {Before thinking up questions for the game, they divided up the categories and assigned them to teams.}
a.
b.

 

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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