Skip to main content

English Vinghlish - III

Modifier problems

In this edition of English-Vinglish let us see the problems arising from using modifiers wrongly. Many times, you will complete the sentence without even aware  of  them , the immediate exultation of committing to a sentence what  you had  mind will blind you lack of refinement in syntax. However, if you re-read what you have written after some days, it will be clear  to you as daylight.
A modifier  in a sentence is  an element that describe or qualifies some other element. It can be an adjective or an adverb or  a phrase that acts as one.  It is important that it is positioned correctly in a sentence to convey the intended meaning.  Let us  see some commonly committed mistakes in their positioning. They are called the

Hanging Modifiers

Sometimes the entity that  is being modified is not explicity stated but implied in the sentence.  This causes  the modifier to ‘hang’ in the absence of the subject that it is supposed to modify.
1.       Once  the  order is  “Technically Complete”, the user can settle to a cost collector.
The better syntax is,
-          Once the user sets  the order to status “Technically Complete”, he/she can settle the order to a cost collector.
Or
-          Once the order is set to status “Technically Complete”, it can be settled to a cost collector.
The modifier is taking about the order and suddenly the writer is talking about what the user can do with it. The syntax is garbled. But the  reader will not notice generally this kind of hanging modifier.  Sometimes the effect is not so subtle as in the above example.
2.       After finishing the Oracle DBA Certification,  Amit’s career took off.
The better syntax is ,
-          After Amit finshed his Oracle DBA Certification, he saw his career take off.
               Or
-          After Amit finished his Oracle DBA Certification, his career took off.
The writer starts the first part of  the sentence taking about what Amit did but ends up writing about his career. 
3.       Upon saving the incomplete Sales order, an error message will pop up on the user’s screen.
The better syntax Is,
 -          When the user  saves an incomplete Sales order, h e/she will see an error message pop up  on the screen

Misplaced Modifier

It is easy to carelessly place the modifier at a wrong place in the sentence ( I do it very often in my whatsup posts to friends) , but know that readers will make it  out)  with the result the user is at a loss to know which subject the modifier is attached to.
1.       Climbing stairs rapidly gets you into good health.
Here it is difficult to make out  the intended meaning;  whether rapid climbing of stairs leads to good health or climbing stairs leads rapidly to good health!!
2.       The Project Manager said that we are behind schedule and that  we have to work hard  this Saturday.
Did the Project Manager talked about working hard this Saturday or he said on Saturday that we need to work hard ?
3.       At the  next steering committee, the members will debate if the Project Manager will be allowed to admit change requests without their approval.
‘Without their approval’  is  attached to the ‘Change Requests’ or to the ‘Project Manager’.
The better syntax will be,-
At the next steering committee, the members will debate if the Project Manager without their approval will be allowed to admit Change Requests.
There are  many more. I  had jotted down these in my mobile memo app, but never brought myself to make a blogpost out  of it. Something to do on  a  lazy Saturday  afternoon in Lalkuan.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Washing Machine - Short Story by Sujatha

The maid had not turned up again today.  Her husband was immersed in the newspaper as usual.  Even the phone ringing at the most inconvenient moments __ when she was preparing the omelet for swetha, ironing her school uniforms or somebody knocking at the door, did not seem to have any effect on him. “It is for you”, she said. “Say I am not there”. “I am not used to starting the day with lies” “There is no auspicious time for lying, Savithri”, he said. There was again a knock at the door. He deigned to look who it was. It was the man who bought old newspapers.  “Newspaper Fellow”, he announced, reverting to bury his head into the papers. Everything had to revolve around her. “Not today”, she was speaking to the man at the door, “Had I not asked for your wife to come for work”. “She is already working in 6 other houses”, “might come from the first of next month after she gives up on one of these houses”. “First of next month?” How will I manage till th...
1 comment
Read more

RAT - Short Story by Asokamitran

Exora  Asokamitran recently passed away. He chose writing for a living and suffered the economic consequences of it.  Have you seen the Exora flower ?  When I was young , we had an Exora plant ( or bush ?)  near the steps at the front of the house.  If you pluck a few flowers with their long stems in tact from a bunch and reverse them and put the stems in the mouth and gently suck them by pressing your lip to the palate, you will get a fleeting taste of sweetness, of its nectar. .  Asokamitran handles subjects the same way.  His approach to the subject and writing style is as gentle as  the butterfly settling on a flower and the effect on the reader is just as subtle.  Not for him the the heavy handed stuff, not for him the harangue  Nobody captured  the ordinariness of life  like him. Nobody understood the mental make up of middle-lower middle class urban dweller like him.  He saw life as a progression of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Chair - Story by Ki Rajanarayanan

How could you call a house without a chair a home? So it struck all of us in the house the same time. This issue was immediately placed on the agenda for family discussion. Just the day before we had a family friend visiting us. He was a sub-judge and as our luck would he have it, he came not dressed in Veshti and Shirt but fully suited and booted. All we had in our house was a three-legged stool, which was itself just three-fourth of a foot high. Our grandmother used to sit on it when she whipped curd. Since our grandmother was a little 'broad at the bottom' our grandfather had asked the carpenter to make it a little broader than usual. For want of any alternative we had requested his good self to take his seat on this three-legged affair. The sub-judge himself was a little thick-set; that caused him to place one hand on the edge of the stool before setting himself down on it . The problem with the stool was that if the weight fell on it not in line with...
Post a Comment
Read more