Sometimes these errors can be corrected simply by moving the modifier to the right place. Other times, you may need to add a subject and verb to clarify who or what is modified by the phrase. Here are some more examples of misplaced and dangling modifiers and their corrections: Incorrect: My uncle told me about feeding cattle in the kitchen. Correct: In the kitchen, my uncle told me about feeding cattle. Incorrect: Broken and beyond repair, Grandma threw the dish away. Correct: Grandma threw away the dish that was broken and beyond repair. Incorrect: While driving to school, the dog ran right in front of my car. Correct: The dog ran right in front of my car while I was driving to school. PARALLEL STRUCTURE Parallel structure in sentences makes ideas easier to follow and expresses ideas more gracefully. Parallel struc- ture means that words and phrases in the sentence follow the same grammatical pattern. Notice how this works in the following examples: Not parallel: Every day I wrote, exercised, and was meditating. (Two verbs are in the past tense, one is a past participle.) Parallel: Every day I w rote, exercised, and meditated. (All three verbs are in the past tense.) Not parallel: I am looking for an assistant who is smart, reliable, and will come on time. (Two of the characteristics are adjectives while the third consists of a verb phrase and prepositional phrase.) Parallel: I am looking for an assistant who is smar t, reliable, and punctual. (All three characteristics are adjectives.) Parallelism is important in lists, as in the examples above, and in the not only/but also sentence pattern. He assured me that he not only sa ved the file, but also created a back-up. (Each phrase has a past tense verb and a noun) The failure was caused not only b y an unintentional error but also by a deliberate miscommunication. (Each phrase has a preposition, an adjective, and a noun) – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 81 REDUNDANCY AND WORDINESS Some TOEFL exam questions may ask you to identify or eliminate redundancy or unnecessary wordiness within sentences. Redundancy is the unnecessary repetition of ideas. Wordiness is the use of several words when a few can express the same idea more clearly and concisely. These two problems typically result from three different causes: ■ The use of unnecessary words or phrases. Redundant: The room was r ed in color. Correct: The room was r ed. ■ Unnecessary repetition of nouns or pronouns. Redundant: The lma she ran into her room and slammed the door. Correct: The lma ran into her room and slammed the door. ■ The use of wordy phrases instead of adverbs. Wordy : He looked at me in a thr eatening manner. Concise: He looked at me thr eat eningly. The following sentences all have unnecessary repetition or wordiness. Unnecessary words have been stricken: I returned b ack to my room after the meeting was over. Please repeat ag ain what you said. The waiters and waitresses the y really take care of you here. Fundraising it provides just enough money for us to function. The circumstances are very delicate in nat ure. It was a story that was difficult to tell. Correction: It was a difficult story to tell. Practice 7 Rewrite the following sentences to correct any misplaced or dangling modifiers, unparallel structure, wordi- ness, or redundancy. You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A. 1. Fried in butter, Sylvan likes eggs. 2. At the age of three, Grandpa took me fishing. 3. While barbecuing our steaks, a hungry salesman walked into the backyard. 4. The study focused on the effects of violence on television, in video games, and violent actions in videos with music. – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 82 5. She not only voted against the new policy, but also she was hoping to convince others to vote against it as well. 6. The film Apocalypse Now it took Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness and set it in Vietnam during the war. 7. I really like to read science fiction and enjoy reading it very much. 8. At Woodstock, Jimi Hendrix played a version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” that was electrifying. Prepositional Idioms Prepositions are often one of the most difficult aspects of learning any foreign language. Just as you need to memorize dozens of irregular verbs, you also need to learn these prepositional idioms: – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 83 according to afraid of anxious about apologize to (someone) apologize for (something) approve of ashamed of aware of blame (someone) for (something) bored with capable of compete with complain about composed of concentrate on concerned with congratulate on conscious of consist of depend on/upon equal to except for fond of from now on from time to time frown on/upon full of glance at/through grateful to (someone) grateful for (something) in accordance with incapable of in conflict inferior to insist on/upon in the habit of in the near future interested in knowledge of next to of the opinion on top of opposite of prior to proud of regard to related to rely on/upon respect for responsible for satisfied with similar to sorry for suspicious of take care of thank (someone) for (something) tired of with regard to Practice 8 Answer the questions below.You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A. If the question has a blank, choose the correct answer to fill in the blank. If the question has four underlined words or phrases, choose the under- lined word or phrase that is incorrect. 1. I plan to return to school ______. a. at the near future b. in the near future c. on the near future d. within the near future 2. Chad is in the o pinion that the woman next to the window is fond of him because she glances at him ABC fr om time to time. D a. A b. B c. C d. D 3. The report is ______ the effects of genetic engineering on food. a. concerned about b. concerned in c. concerned for d. concerned with 4. I would like to c ongratulate you on how well you have taken care of all the matters related on the ABC reorganization o f your department. D a. A b. B c. C d. D 5. I hope you know you can always ______ me. a. depend in b. depend on c. depend to d. depend with – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 84  Putting It All Together: A Structure Practice Quiz Answer the questions below.You will find the Answer Key in Appendix A. If the question has a blank, choose the correct answer to fill in the blank. If the question has four underlined words or phrases, choose the under- lined word or phrase that is incorrect. 1. The players p re pared good for the tournament but p erfor med p oorly. AB C D a. A b. B c. C d. D 2. After the security guard’s performance was e valuated, management decides to dismiss her and asked her to turn in her uniform. a. A b. B c. C d. D 3. If y our not too busy, and I know e veryone is, please read and complete this questionnaire. ABCD a. A b. B c. C d. D 4. Mitch was sure the problem ______ a. is solve b. is solving c. was solved d. was solven 5. Emmanuel wishes that he ______ never moved from his old neighborhood. a. had b. did c. would d. could – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 85 6. The plumber did a complete estimate for us so that we would know exactly how much the ABC job w ould c osted. D a. A b. B c. C d. D 7. Ginger se es her mother r egularly. She was healthy and strong, ev en though she is over 80 years old. ABC D a. A b. B c. C d. D 8. If the message was more detailed, I would have been able to understand it when I read it. ABCD a. A b. B c. C d. D 9. H alf of the textile wall hangings were crooked, but each of the paintings were slightly askew. ABCD a. A b. B c. C d. D 10. N either Sam nor James wanted their name associated with the project. ABCD a. A b. B c. C d. D – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 86 . on concerned with congratulate on conscious of consist of depend on/upon equal to except for fond of from now on from time to time frown on/upon full of glance at/through grateful to (someone) grateful for. a few can express the same idea more clearly and concisely. These two problems typically result from three different causes: ■ The use of unnecessary words or phrases. Redundant: The room was. is solve b. is solving c. was solved d. was solven 5. Emmanuel wishes that he ______ never moved from his old neighborhood. a. had b. did c. would d. could – STRUCTURE: GRAMMAR AND STYLE– 85 6.