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Improve Your Writing Table of Contents
Dangling participles exercise.
A. Why improve your understanding of grammar and punctuation?
In this exercise you will be presented with a number of sentences, some of which contain dangling participles. Put a tick by the sentences that do contain dangling participles.
B. Punctuation Marks C. Common Confusions D. Using quoted material. E. Other pitfalls and problems
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F. Style G. Exercises
a)
Stuck in the mud, Tim could see a man waving.
b)
Stuck in the mud, the man tried to free himself.
c)
Stuck in the mud, the man called for help.
d)
Stuck in the mud, the rescue services rushed to the man's assistance.
a)
Breathing his last, the man passed away.
b)
Breathing his last, we saw the man pass away.
c)
Breathing his last, the old man shut his eyes.
d)
Breathing his last, the man's dog jumped up and gave a howl.
a)
Soaring high above the fields, the eagle is a majestic bird.
b)
Soaring high above the fields, we could see the eagle clearly.
c)
Soaring high above the fields, the eagle can spot its prey easily.
d)
Soaring high above the fields, we watched the eagles for hours.
a)
Rushing to catch the bus, the old man slipped and fell.
b)
Rushing to catch the bus, the old man's wallet fell out of his pocket.
c)
Rushing to catch the bus, the old man's face was covered in sweat.
d)
Rushing to catch the bus, the old man cursed his advancing years.
a)
Having finished my homework, dad said I could go out.
b)
Having finished my homework, my sister wanted me to play football with her.
c)
Having finished my homework, I could relax and watch the television.
d)
Having finished my homework, mum was very pleased with me.
a)
Sizzling on the barbecue, I waited to eat the sausages.
b)
Sizzling on the barbecue, the sausages looked delicious.
c)
Sizzling on the barbecue, we watched the sausages cooking.
d)
Sizzling on the barbecue, my uncle smelled the delicious sausages.
a)
Giving an important speech, the chairman made a number of grammatical errors.
b)
Giving an important speech, we couldn't help laughing at the chairman's grammatical errors.
c)
Giving an important speech, the building was full of the chairman's supporters.
d)
Giving an important speech, the chairman began to shake uncontrollably.
a)
Exploding in bright colours, the crowd loved the fireworks.
b)
Exploding in bright colours, the rockets looked beautiful.
c)
Exploding in bright colours, eveyone cheered as the fireworks went off.
d)
Exploding in bright colours, the fireworks lit up the night.
a)
Fumbling over his words, we laughed at Tim's mistakes.
b)
Fumbling over his words, Tim looked ridiculous.
c)
Fumbling over his words, Tim's supporters both looked shocked.
d)
Fumbling over his words, Tim's speech was a disaster.
1. Using the Colon to Improve Style 2. Using the colon. 3. Using the semicolon. 4. Using the comma 1.
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5. Using the comma 2. 6. The comma splice. 7. Separating Clauses 8. Exercise about conjunctions. 9. Exercise using the hyphen. 10. Contracted words
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11. Using the apostrophe 1. 12. Using the apostrophe 2. 13. Lists. 14. Punctuation marks exercise. 15. Dangling participles exercise.
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16. Who's or Whose? 17. It's or Its? 18. There or Their or They're? 19. To or Too or Two? 20. Who or Whom? 21. I or me? 22. Less or Fewer?
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23. Like or As? 24. Split Infinitives. 25. Verb/Subject Agreement. 26. Using the subjunctive. 27. Using Numbers. 28. Punctuation of embedded quotations 1. 29. Punctuation of embedded quotations. 2
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30. Correcting quotes. 31. Confusable words 1. 32. Confusable Words 2. 33. Confusable words 3. 34. Consistency of tense.
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35. Common Mistakes. 36. Run-on Sentences Exercise. 37. Pleonasm Exercise. 38. Straying Off The Point Exercise.
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a)
With every limb aching, the runner crossed the line.
b)
With every limb aching, he finished the race just ahead of his rival.
c)
With every limb aching, the crowd roared him towards the finish line.
d)
With every limb aching, the spectators cheered as he crossed the line.
Read about dangling participles. See a list of other grammar exercises.
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