I have questions about the participle phrase in academic writing which are related to the dangling modifiers of 3 cases.
Could you explain me more the appropriate use of sentences with the participle group with 3 cases given? Thank you.
Case No.1:
1.1. When considering the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.
VS
1.2. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.
Case No.2:
2.1. When considering the virosphere, extremely unlikely events become probabilistic certainties.
VS
2.2. When considered the virosphere, extremely unlikely events become probabilistic certainties.
Case No.3:
3.1. Considering the qPCR data, the reduced synthesis of stress-induced molecules might be attributed to an enhanced adaptive response.
VS
3.2. Considered the qPCR data, the reduced synthesis of stress-induced molecules might be attributed to an enhanced adaptive response.
Answer
A dangling modifier creates ambiguity that can lead to inappropriately linking an action with the wrong agent.
For instance:
While walking down the street, a dog tried to bite me.
Here, the sentence can easily be interpreted as it being the dog who was walking down the street.
This is commonly corrected by explicitly specifying who was walking down the street and adding a helper verb:
While I was walking down the street, a dog tried to bite me.
So, let’s take your first example:
1.1. When considering the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.
This can be interpreted as saying that it is the identified species who are considering the environmental context.
If we follow the earlier pattern of correction, the sentence might be rephrased something like this:
When you are considering the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.
But in your examples, the correction is made in a different way. By changing the verb tense from the present participle to the past participle and using a preposition, the issue of the dangling modifier is resolved:
1.2. When considered in the environmental context, identified species conform to principles of optimal foraging.
There is still no explicit agent who considers things in the environmental context, but it can no longer be interpreted as the identified species doing so. Without an explicit agent, it could be anyone.
All three sentence follow the same pattern, however the second and third past-participle versions are actually ungrammatical and need further correction.
The second past-participle version is relatively easy to correct:
2.2. When considered from the virosphere, extremely unlikely events become probabilistic certainties.
The third version, however, needs to have when added at the start in order for it to work:
3.2. When considered in the light of the qPCR data, the reduced synthesis of stress-induced molecules might be attributed to an enhanced adaptive response.
The specific prepositions and prepositional phrases I used might not be the only ones you could use, but they are examples of how the past participle can be grammatical while also removing the issue of the dangling modifier.
There is another problem, however.
Even though all three sentences that were revised to use the past participle are grammatical, they no longer have the same meaning.
For example, these two phrases are not identical:
When considering the environment context, identified species . . .
When considered in the environmental context, identified species . . .
The first says that it’s the environmental context that’s the object of consideration.
But the second says that whatever is being considered is being considered from the perspective of (or from within the framework of) the environmental context. In fact, the object of consideration actually becomes identified species.
So, while you’ve eliminated the dangling modifier, you’ve actually created another issue of semantics in the process.
In short, I would recommend not replacing the present participle with the past participle, but, as with the more normal resolution to the dangling modifier problem, adding an explicit subject and helper verb as demonstrated in the first part of this answer.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Jarurote Tippayachai , Answer Author : Jason Bassford