7.4.2 Phrases beginning with -ing words, called participles
Example: Walking down the street, a dime was seen by the small child.
Example: After writing the report, a book was read.
A participle, a form of a verb ending in "- ing" or "-ed," acts as an adjective; that is to say, participles modify nouns.
When a participle comes at the beginning of a sentence, it refers to the subject of a sentence. Even if the participle is introduced with some word like when, while, after, before, or on, the phrase containing the "-ing" or "-ed" word, coming at the beginning of a sentence, must refer to the subject of the sentence. In the first example the "walking," thus, seems to refer to the dime; but I maintain that dimes don't walk. So that must simply be misplaced; the one walking apparently was the small child. In the second example the "writing" has really nothing to modify; it is, thus, dangling. To make "writing" modify correctly, you could do two things: (1) supply a person or thing that can write and can read or (2) get rid of the "-ing" ending. The second way, the passive-voice way, sometimes sounds awkward.
Rewrite: Walking down the street, the small child saw a dime.
Rewrite: After writing the report, Tim read a book.
Rewrite: After the report was written, a book was read.
==>Guidelines ==>Flow
==> Modifiers