User talk:Wiki4BC
Add topicLatest comment: 30 days ago by MakaylaHippo1998 in topic ANI Notice
The Grammatical Quibble
[edit]I edited the article The Path to Rome to eliminate a dangling participle. You reverted the edit, commenting "Belloc’s family moved to England shortly after his birth…" I have no quibble with the fact contained in the comment (that fact was not changed), but do you know what a dangling participle is? JingleJim (talk) 22:14, 29 June 2026 (UTC)
- Is there a descriptive phrase at the start that could be attached to the wrong noun? Wiki4BC (talk) 04:27, 30 June 2026 (UTC)
- Bingo! The sentence in question reads: "Born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, in 1870 to a French father and an English mother, Belloc's family moved to England shortly after his birth, eventually settling in Sussex." The descriptive participial phrase at the start is "Born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, in 1870 to a French father and an English mother". The participle, "born", refers to Belloc. However, the core sentence is "Belloc's family moved to England shortly after his birth". The simple predicate of the sentence is "moved", and the simple subject is "family": the family moved. The participle should also be something the subject of the sentence did or was, but here, the participle is something Belloc himself did: be born. The family wasn't born in 1870, he was. But the sentence says the family was "born . . . in 1870": "born" is attached to the wrong noun. And that's why I edited that sentence as I did. JingleJim (talk) 02:32, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
- Thank you for the explanation. I have to admit, before this discussion I didn't actually know what a dangling participle was. Thank you for your grammatical wisdom, JingleJim! I have reverted my change. 🫡 Wiki4BC (talk) 06:02, 10 July 2026 (UTC)
- Bingo! The sentence in question reads: "Born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, in 1870 to a French father and an English mother, Belloc's family moved to England shortly after his birth, eventually settling in Sussex." The descriptive participial phrase at the start is "Born in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France, in 1870 to a French father and an English mother". The participle, "born", refers to Belloc. However, the core sentence is "Belloc's family moved to England shortly after his birth". The simple predicate of the sentence is "moved", and the simple subject is "family": the family moved. The participle should also be something the subject of the sentence did or was, but here, the participle is something Belloc himself did: be born. The family wasn't born in 1870, he was. But the sentence says the family was "born . . . in 1870": "born" is attached to the wrong noun. And that's why I edited that sentence as I did. JingleJim (talk) 02:32, 9 July 2026 (UTC)
ANI Notice
[edit]
There is currently a discussion at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents regarding an issue with which you may have been involved. MakaylaHippo1998 (talk) 17:49, 14 October 2026 (UTC)