be looking out of the window, but she was).

This situation is an example of a dangling modifier (which is

explained again in a later chapter). The modifier (the participial phrase) is not modifying any specific noun
in the sentence and is left dangling. Since a person must be doing the looking for the sentence to make
sense, a noun or pronoun that refers to a person must be in the place immediately after the participial
phrase, as in the second sentence.
Punctuation of participial phrases: Study these sentences which are correctly punctuated. Notice the use of
the commas in each case.
Correct: Arriving at the store, I found that it was closed.
Correct: The boy, watching an old movie, drifted in and out of sleep.
Correct: The guy wearing the chicken costume is my cousin. (Note that if the participial phrase is
essential to the meaning of the sentence, no commas should be used.)
There are two types of participles: present participles and past participles.
Present participles end in -ing. Swimming
Past participles end in -ed, -en, -d, -t or -n, as in the words cornered, shaken, dealt, etc.
Cornered by the lawyers questions, the convict spoke the truth.
Shaken, he walked away from the scene of crime.
Study these sentences: (pay attention to the way they are punctuated the presence or the absence of the
comma)
The overloaded vehicle stopped midway.
Facing college standards, the students realized that they hadnt worked hard enough in high school.
Starting out as an army officer Karans father was frequently transferred.
Applicants must investigate various colleges learning as much as possible about them before applying
for admission.
The convict, cornered by the lawyers questions, revealed all the information.
Infinitives
to + verb is called an infinitive. E.g. to seek.
The term verbal indicates that an infinitive, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and
therefore expresses action or a state of being. Although an infinitive is easy to locate because of the to +
verb form, deciding what function it has in a sentence can sometimes be confusing. (However, the infinitive
may function as a subject, direct object, subject complement, adjective, or adverb in a sentence.) Study
these sentences and notice the function of the infinitives.
To wait seemed foolish. (subject)
Everyone wanted to go. (direct object)
His ambition is to fly. (subject complement)
He lacked the strength to resist. (adjective)
We must study to learn. (adverb)
Be sure not to confuse an infinitive with a prepositional phrase beginning with to, which consists of to plus
a noun or pronoun and any modifiers,
e.g. to him, to the committee, to my house, to the mountains, to us, to this address, etc.

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