Roll up, roll up

I've been doing quite a bit of writing training this month, working with PR execs to polish up their bylined articles and features. It's always interesting, particularly because I usually start the session with this grammar quiz.

The point for me is that understanding the language (and its rules) should be the foundation of all communication. If you don't know how to structure a good sentence, or what the difference is between a noun and an adjective (seriously) then how can you produce good copy for your clients?

So, who reckons they can get these all right?

Which of these sentences follow the Subject/Verb/Object structure?
a)    The highlights made Clair’s hair particularly shiny
b)    Clair’s hair was made particularly shiny by the new highlights
c)    Clair’s hair was shiny because of the new highlights

Which of these sentences includes a dangling modifier?
a)    After the successful grammar session, I decided to pursue a career in teaching
b)    After completing the grammar course, Cat wrote only direct sentences
c)    Relieved to finish the grammar course, it was time for coffee

Which of these sentences are active?
a)    The white paper made no sense
b)    The white paper didn’t achieve anything
c)    Nothing was achieved by the white paper

Correct these sentences so the verb, subject and tenses agree.
a)    Each of the magazines are leaders in its own market
b)    My car, which is my second in two years, have a wonky steering wheel 
c)    No-one except his friends agrees with him

Correct these sentences by adding, or removing, commas.
a)    Gracefully daintily and lightly Greg moved across the office
b)    In fact the client’s product turned out not to be leading after all
c)    It won’t be ready in two weeks time but it might be ready in three he said

Correct these sentences by adding, or removing, apostrophes. 
a)    In one months time, we will have to start our annual clearout, wont we?
b)    My password has 2 R's and 3 number 4s
c)    For goodness’ sake, its not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens books

Correct the following sentences so that all spelling, punctuation and grammar is accurate.
a)    I would advice you to seek legal advise for you’re situation before excepting another promotion
b)    Everyone was at the meeting except Flora. The affect on her career was totally devastating
c)    The stationary cupboard was empty after a daring nighttime raid by Gemma

Comments

[Wordsmith_for_Hire]

1. a
2. a
3. b
4. a) Each of the magazines are leaders in their own market
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel
c) No-one, except his friends, agrees with him
5. a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading, after all
c) It won’t be ready in two weeks time, but it might be ready in three, he said
6. a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, wont we?
b) My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4s
c) For goodness sake, its not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books
7. a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion
b) Everyone was at the meeting, except Flora. The effect on her career was totally devastating
c) The stationery cupboard was empty after a daring night-time raid by Gemma

[Brendan]

May as well put my reputation as a sometime copywriter on the line. Having said which I think some of these are a bit subjective, for example the use of commas...

1 b)
2 c)
3 a) and b)

4
a) All of the magazines are leaders in their own markets
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel
c) No-one agrees with him except his friends

5
a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading after all
c) "It won’t be ready in two weeks time but it might be ready in three," he said

6
a) In one month’s time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won’t we?
b) My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4s
c) For goodness's sake, it’s not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens's books

7
a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion
b) Everyone was at the meeting, except Flora. The effect on her career was totally devastating.
c) The stationery cupboard was empty after Gemma’s daring night-time raid

[Sally Whittle]

Wordsmith, I expected more of you.

*shakes head, sadly*

[Wordsmith_for_Hire]

I'm afraid my head has been turned today by Roy Greenslade's worshipful adoration of me in his Graun blog (where I was politely berated for typos in the comments underneath!). Clearly, my form is slipping...

http://tinyurl.com/6g2nlz

[Wordsmith_for_Hire]

Indeed, I am hideously embarrassed at the number of errors in attempt #1 so I'm giving it another shot.

1. a
2. c
3. a and b
4. a) Each of the magazines are leaders in their own market.
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel.
c) No-one, except his friends, agrees with him.
5. a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office.
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading, after all.
c) "It won’t be ready in two weeks' time, but it might be ready in three", he said.
6. a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won't we?
b) My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4s.
c) For goodness sake, it's not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books.
7. a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion.
b) Everyone was at the meeting, except Flora. The effect on her career was totally devastating.
c) The stationery cupboard was empty after a daring night-time raid by Gemma.

[Mags]

The trouble with coming to a test late is you start to wonder if you should crib off the early birds.

1. b

2. c

3. b

4.
a) I'm torn between "Each of the magazines is a leader in its own market" and "Each of the magazines are leaders in their own market".
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel.
c) No one, except his friends, agrees with him.

5.
a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office.
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading after all.
c) You said only to add commas, so... "It won’t be ready in two weeks time but it might be ready in three, he said."

6.
a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won't we?
b) My password has 2 R's and 3 number 4's
c) For goodness sake, it's not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books.

7.
a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation, before accepting another promotion.
b) Everyone was at the meeting, except Flora: the effect on her career was totally devastating.
c) The stationery cupboard was empty, after a daring night-time raid by Gemma.

[David Child]

Answers below Miss.

I struggled with 'dangling modifier' - making a calculated guess (and without cheating) - also I questioned modifying passives for actives in a couple of the sentences but I'm not sure if that's wrong or simply bad form...
Thanks for the brain-teaser!
1. c
2. c
3. a,b
4.
a) Each of the magazines is a leader in its own market
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel
c) Except his friends, no-one agrees with him

5.
a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading after all
c) It won’t be ready in two weeks time but it might be ready in three, he said

6.
a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won't we?
b) My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4's
c) For goodness sake, it's not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books

7.
a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion.
b) Everyone was at the meeting except Flora; the effect on her career was totally devastating.
c) The stationery cupboard was empty after a daring night-time raid by Gemma.

[Carole Scott]

Well, I hate to confess it, but I had never heard of a dangling modifier before, although instinctively I'd say c.

Sally, can I nab the apostrophe one to share with colleagues? I'm on a huge apostrophe campaign at the moment.

[Sally Whittle]

Carole, you can nab to your heart's content. Will post the answers later today, in case anyone else fancies having a go!

[Neil Baker]

Hhmmm... is 2 a trick question? Having done a bit of Googling to find out what the heck a dangling modifier is, I don't think either a, b, or c has one. Looking forward to the answer.

[Sally Whittle]

Okay, here goes:

1. B

2. C

3. A and B

4a) Each of the magazines IS A leader in its own market

b) My car, which is my second in two years, HAS a wonky steering wheel

c) No-one, except his friends, AGREES with him

5

a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly, Greg moved across the office.

b) In fact, the client's product turned out not to be leading, after all.

c)It won't be ready in two weeks' time, but it might be ready in three, he said. [quotation marks optional]

6

a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won't we?

b)My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4s [though if you want to be extra accurate, two and four should be written out in full)

c)For goodness sake, it's not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books

7

a)I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion.

b)Everyone was at the meeting, except Flora. The effect on her career was totally devastating.

c) The stationery cupboard was empty after a daring night-time raid by Gemma.

I think this makes Brendan our winner this time around. Hurrah!

[Neil Baker]

(hand goes up at the back of class) Can you explain the answer to Q2 please Miss?

[Wordsmith_for_Hire]

A dangling modifier is also called a hanging participle. It's what you get when two halves of a sentence don't match, to explain it as simply as possible.

If you look at examples A and B, the second half of the sentence clearly follows the first clause. That is, the events of the second clause result from the events of the first.

In C (Relieved to finish the grammar course, it was time for coffee ), there is no clear link. You have no idea who was relieved, but it clearly wasn't the coffee. It would have made sense had it read "Relieved to finish the grammar course, I decided it was time for coffee", because then the reader would know it was I who was relieved.

Hope that makes sense to you, Neil.

[Mags]

Phew! I am relieved that some of the corrections I send to colleagues are not totally wrong.

Miss? Miss! How about the correct use of the semi-colon?

[Sally Whittle]

Thanks for explainining dangling modifiers, Wordsmith!

I was always taught that a colon is used when the two parts of the sentence are equivalent, as in:

There are two things I like about working late: the peace and the quiet.

Whereas a semi-colon is used when the second part of the sentence is a continuation or amplification of the first part of the sentence, as in:

There are a couple of things I like about working late; unfortunately I can't remember either of them right now.

My examples might not be great, as I'm focusing on how irritated I am to be working late ;-)

[Emily]

Which of these sentences follow the Subject/Verb/Object structure?
b

Which of these sentences includes a dangling modifier?
c?
... I did your writing course 6 years ago, but confess to rarely using this rule...

Which of these sentences are active?
a and b

Correct these sentences so the verb, subject and tenses agree.
a) Each of the magazines is a leader in its own market
b) My car, which is my second in two years, has a wonky steering wheel
c) Except his friends, no-one agrees with him

Correct these sentences by adding, or removing, commas.
a) Gracefully, daintily and lightly Greg moved across the office
b) In fact, the client’s product turned out not to be leading after all
c) It won’t be ready in two weeks time, but it might be ready in three, he said

Correct these sentences by adding, or removing, apostrophes.
a) In one month's time, we will have to start our annual clearout, won't we?
b) My password has 2 Rs and 3 number 4s
c) For goodness’ sake, it's not going to be as simple as it was when we were reading Dickens' books

Correct the following sentences so that all spelling, punctuation and grammar is accurate.
a) I would advise you to seek legal advice for your situation before accepting another promotion
b) Everyone was at the meeting except Flora. The effect on her career was totally devastating
c) The stationery cupboard was empty after a daring night time raid by Gemma

Gosh - bit nervous after this test!!

[Emily]

Actually Sally, while we are talking writing, please may I ask your opinion on something?

I distinctly remember, during my Words 101 training six years ago, the advice "never use a complicated word when a simple one will do". Doggedly following this rule through my career, I have built up a (potentially irrational) hatred for the word "utilise".

Having moved to Australia two months ago, I am now seeing it used daily, with the simpler "use" relegated to primary schools.

Am I still right to stamp my feet and scribble it out whenever I see it? I HATE it and everything it stands for (flowery language in place of interesting content).

[Neil Baker]

I see the point about the dangling modifier in 2c, but I would have thought it was obvious that the subject of the sentence was the implied "I", rather than the coffee.

The reworked version "Relieved to finish the grammar course, I decided it was time for coffee" is certainly clearer, but not something I'd get hung up about, as the original version is clear enough and shorter.

[Mags]

Thanks!

That fits with my vague understanding. I work on the principle of removing semi-colons most of the time I see them as they are often being abused!

[Anne]

@Neil but it's incorrect, it's not clear and while it's inocuous enough in that situation, in others some real howlers can occur, so it's a bad habit to get into. It's also a clumsy structure and does not read well.

[Sally Whittle]

Emily - yes, it's still a good rule. only weirdos say "utilise" when "use" will do. I'd hit people who do it the annoying way, or at the very least correct their copy with red pen.

[Neil Baker]

@Anne... "while it's inocuous enough in that situation, in others some real howlers can occur, so it's a bad habit to get into."

The question is about its use in this situation. I think its fine. Anyway, I hate arguments about "correct" grammar so, quietly, I will, away, slip.

[Neil Baker]

@Anne... "while it's inocuous enough in that situation, in others some real howlers can occur, so it's a bad habit to get into."

The question is about its use in this situation. I think its fine. Anyway, I hate arguments about "correct" grammar so, quietly, I will, away, slip.

[PJ White]

There's a simple device that may help people realise what's wrong with c) in the dangling modifier question. Reconstruct the sentences by switching the clauses (the bits separated by the comma)and deleting the comma.

You don't need much experience of English, or to be overbothered with grammar rules, to realise that:

"It was time for coffee relieved to finish the grammar course."

doesn't make a lot of sense. Compare that with "I decided to pursue a career in teaching after the successful grammar session." Which is fine.

This points to what is really wrong with the sentence. It isn't one. It doesn't have a subject. This is a much bigger problem than the stylistic and much more arguable area of dangling modifiers, unattached or mislrelated particples, or whatever you want to call them.

I'm not sure why Sally's question wasn't something like "which one of these isn't a sentence?" Throwing in dangling modifers smacks of showing off and mystifcation of outsiders.

The type of dangling modifier that PRs are likely to come up with goes something like this:

"As a highly respected industry journalist, I am writing to invite you to experience our client's latest whatsit".

The objection from pedants derives from a rule of grammar which says that in such circs the modifying clause that opens the sentence has to be logically attached to the subject of the main clause, which tends to be the first noun-like thing appearing after the comma. Which in this case is "I" - that is, the PR writing it.

Applying that rule, the writer is saying that they are a highly respected industry journalist.

The response from ordinary, non-pedantic folk, is to say, no, not really. A native English speaker or reader doesn't have any problem applying the modifying clause where it was intended - to the "you". Yes, that happens to be the object of the main clause. But so what? That's cool. There's no real ambiguity. Take a chill pill. Etc.

Position yourself where you will.

Hope this helps.

[Sally Whittle]

Hi PJ, thanks for the explanation.

I'm not sure the intention of including a question on dangling modifiers is to show off or mystify outsiders (although if my blog achieves this, clearly, that's just a bonus).

The exercise above is done in the context of a writing training session, and it's useful to have a simple question to illustrate clearly what a dangling modifier is. I would always say to people that "You'll almost never fall into the dangling modifier trap, but be aware of it if you're editing a document heavily because they can slip in, and they can be confusing for the reader."

Also, if it ever comes up in a pub quiz, people will be glad they have this random piece of knowledge.

I don't think I'm pedantic (at least, compared to Wordsmith) because I think the priority of a writer should always be "can this be understood?" over "does this comply with every rule of grammar?" but in an ideal world, copy should do both, shouldn't it?