Business Grammar: Dangling Construction
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
This one paragraph contains a business grammar error. Find and correct it.
Stashed away in the company storage room for the past twenty years, the owner of the painting has decided to sell it.
Problem:
Stashed away in the company storage room for the past twenty years, the owner of the painting has decided to sell it. (Which was stashed in the company storage room: the owner or the painting?)
Explanation:
This is a dangling construction error. When a sentence begins with a participial phrase, make sure that the phrase or clause logically agrees with the subject of the sentence. If not, the construction will "dangle."
Solution:
Stashed away in the company storage room for the past twenty years, the owner of the painting has decided to sell it.
Problem:
Stashed away in the company storage room for the past twenty years, the owner of the painting has decided to sell it. (Which was stashed in the company storage room: the owner or the painting?)
Explanation:
This is a dangling construction error. When a sentence begins with a participial phrase, make sure that the phrase or clause logically agrees with the subject of the sentence. If not, the construction will "dangle."
Solution:
- The owner of the painting that has been stored in the company storage room for the past twenty years has decided to sell it.
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