Sentence Correction

Stacey Koprince wrote:Received a PM asking me to reply. I'm sorry I'm just getting to your message now; I've been on vacation since 23 June.

There's no source cited here, but luckily I recognize this one. It has appeared in both OG and PowerPrep - and, because it appeared in PowerPrep, we're allowed to post and discuss.

varundaga05 asked me to address the misplaced modifier issue here. Generally speaking, there are rules about where to place modifiers in sentences. If the modifier is not placed correctly according to the rules, then the modifier is called a "misplaced modifier."

In this question, we've got a fairly complex sentence, so let's break it down a little bit. Here's the original:

Defense attorneys have occasionally argued that their clients' misconduct stemmed from a reaction to something ingested, but in attributing criminal or delinquent behavior to some food allergy, the perpetrators are in effect told that they are not responsible for their actions.

Here's the core: Defense attorneys have argued that misconduct stemmed (from X), but the perpetrators are told that they are not responsible (for Y).

[Subject Verb THAT Subject Verb], but [Subject Verb THAT Subject Verb].

There are several modifiers - the most important one is the long one in the middle - the one that is underlined: "in attributing criminal or delinquent behavior to some food allergy,"

We know that this is a modifier because it cannot stand alone as a sentence. It's modifying, or giving us additional info about, something else in the sentence. What is it modifying? Let's start with: it's modifying something AFTER itself, because this modifier is after the word "but." This modifier is part of the second half of the sentence.

Okay, so what is it modifying? The phrase is describing an action - someone or something is attributing criminal or delinquent behavior to a food allergy. Who or what is doing that? Logically, the defense attorneys are attributing bad behavior to a food allergy - that matches the info in the first half of the sentence. Hmm. But the second half doesn't mention the defense attorneys; it only mentions the perpetrators. Are the perpetrators attributing their own bad behavior to food allergies? I suppose that's possible, but that's not what the first part of the sentence says. The first part says that the defense attornies are doing this. So I've got a "bad" meaning here - a misplaced modifier.

So answer A doesn't work. Ditto C and E.

B and D change the structure of the sentence - what was a modifier is no longer a modifier. Now, it's part of the core. Here's B:

Defense attorneys have argued that misconduct stemmed (from X), but if behavior is attributed to Z, the perpetrators are told that they are not responsible (for Y).

[Subject Verb THAT Subject Verb], but [if Subject Verb, (then) Subject Verb THAT subject verb].

Stacey Koprince wrote:How about this sentence:

He was ordered by his parents to do his homework.

Is "he" or "his parents" the subject here?

What's the verb?

Which noun does the verb match - the singular noun or the plural noun?

Answers:
the subject is "he," not his parents: he was ordered.

This is an example of a passive sentence. The subject does not perform the action described by the verb. Rather, someone or something else performs the action (in this case, his parents) on the subject.

The active version of this sentence would be:
His parents ordered him to do his homework.

Now "parents" is the subject, and the subject is performing the action described by the verb.

Look at the difference in the structures of the two verbs:
Passive: "was ordered"
Active: "ordered"

Passive is constructed using some form of the verb "to be" (is, are, was, etc) and the past participle of whatever action you want to describe. In a passive sentence, the subject is NOT performing the action; rather, the action is being performed on the subject by some other person or thing.