Dear Dickinsonians:

Last year Doc Grammar presented you with some grammatical challenges that are often intractable and compromise those with good ideas to express themselves accurately in a shared professional community.

Before Doc Grammar revs up again this year to thrill you with new grammatical challenges, it is most appropriate to have you self-assess what you learned and retained from the first-year lessons.

To that end, Doc Grammar offers a fun quiz to test yourself.

A prescriptive learning element is provided as each inquiry is linked to a specific lesson from last year. Enjoy the quiz and be prepared for yet another year of fine grammar coming your way—all part of a Dickinson education!

Doc Grammar

14. Poor phrasing: use of dangling modifiers

INCORRECT

1. While waiting in line at the Snar, the grill erupted into flames.
2. President Durden spoke about the contributions made by Benjamin Rush at Sunday's convocation.

CORRECT

1. The grill erupted into flames while I was waiting in line at the Snar.
2. At Sunday's convocation, President Durden spoke about the contributions made by Benjamin Rush.

WHY?
A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that is placed incorrectly in a sentence. Rather than modifying the intended word, the phrase ends up modifying the noun closest to it in the sentence.

In the first example, the phrase "while waiting in line at the Snar" modifies the word grill. Unless the grill was in line, this is clearly not correct. The problem can be solved by making the phrase more explicit: "while I was waiting in line at the Snar." I also moved it to the end of the sentence, but it would work as well at the beginning.

The second example implies that Benjamin Rush made contributions at Sunday's convocation, and that I spoke about them. Now despite my considerable powers of persuasion, I doubt that I could convince the good doctor to come back to life, even for a chance to contribute to the college he founded. In this case, move the phrase closer to the phrase being modified. I put it at the beginning of the sentence, but it would also work to say "President Durden spoke at Sunday's convocation... ."

These mistakes are relatively easy to spot if you just read over your writing and think for a moment about how the sentence could be misinterpreted. The results often can be quite humorous.

Have you run into particularly funny examples of dangling modifiers? Post a comment to share them.

13. Problematic prepositions: ending a sentence

INCORRECT

1. I don't know where the concert is at.
2. What did you go to the store for?

CORRECT

1. I don't know where the concert is.
2. What did you get at the store? or
   Why did you go to the store?

WHY?
Not ending a sentence with a preposition is a rule of traditional grammar that we are all familiar with. Or perhaps I should say "with which we are all familiar." In fact, many commentators on English usage consider this not to be a rule at all. Why, then, are the two examples above incorrect?

Prepositions are used to connect nouns with other words or phrases, often to show a physical or logical relationship. In sentence a, the preposition at the end of the sentence doesn't do this and so is not necessary. I might say "the concert is at ATS" or "where is the concert being held?"

In sentence b, the preposition "for" is necessary but putting it at the end of the sentence is awkward. I could say "For what did you go to the store?", but this too is clumsy. In cases like this, it is best to rewrite the sentence and avoid the problem.

What, then, do we make of these examples?

3. He didn't know how many people he could count on.
4. That behavior is something I will not put up with.

In these cases the so-called "rule" is best ignored. You might change c to read "people on whom he could count," but the result is not any clearer. Sentence d was famously mocked by Winston Churchill with the phrase "up with which I will not put."

To summarize, don't end a sentence with prepositions that are unnecessary or cause clumsy or confusing phrases. On the other hand, leave the preposition at the end of the sentence if the alternative is a more awkward sentence. Remember that in conversational American-English, you can get away with "at" and "for" dangling at the end of a statement, but discerning scholars worldwide may note the outrage upon the language in these cases.

Still confused? Submit a comment to share your thoughts.

12. Proper pronouns: when to use that and which

INCORRECT

1. The meeting which will cover sustainability takes place in room 203.
2. The Morehouse College Glee Club, that has performed around the world, will sing at Allison Church next week.

CORRECT

1. The meeting that will cover sustainability takes place in room 203.
2. The Morehouse College Glee Club, which has performed around the world, will sing at Allison Church next week.

WHY?
Once again we have a rule that (or which) seems relatively straightforward but can be difficult in practice. "That" is used to introduce a restrictive clause, while "which" precedes a non-restrictive clause. A restrictive clause contains information essential to the meaning of the sentence, while a non-restrictive clause provides additional but not essential information.

In the first example, the phrase "which will cover sustainability" is used to identify the particular meeting in room 203. Since this is a restrictive clause, the correct phrase is "that will cover sustainability."

Likewise, in the second example the phrase "that has performed around the world" is used to provide additional information about the Morehouse College Glee Club. This is a non-restrictive clause and "which" is appropriate in this case. By the way, if you will be on campus during spring break, try to catch the Glee Club on Thursday, March 16.

A common mistake is to use "which" for a restrictive clause instead of "that," as shown in my first example. Of course, I could change the meaning of the first sentence by writing "The meeting, which will cover sustainability, takes place in room 203." In this case, perhaps the meeting has already been identified and I want to provide additional information. By using "which" and adding two commas, I have turned it into a non-restrictive clause.

Some grammar experts believe that the use of "which" for "that" is so common as to be accepted usage. But since the meaning can change with the choice of words, isn't it better to say precisely what you mean? What do you think?