Saturday, October 18, 2008

MS Word and dangling modifiers

I'm currently using Microsoft Word (gasp, shudder) to co-write a textbook (or "textbooklet"). Today, I typed the following sentence:

"Quite often when using statistics, our data will involve more than one variable."

It promptly got underlined in green by Word's "grammar checker". Usually I don't trust the grammar checker, but in this instance, once I looked back at my sentence, I realized that it does commit one of those "dangling modifier" type of boo-boos. So I changed the sentence to

"Quite often when we use statistics, our data will involve more than one variable."

The grammar checker didn't object at all.

So I guess my question is, is that really what the grammar checker was objecting to? The dangling modifier? But how would it know? Isn't that more a question of semantics than syntax? Suppose you type a sentence like

"Raised in Arizona, it is easy to miss the open land."

How would you program a computer to try to recognize that "raised in Arizona" doesn't really modify the "it"?

46 comments:

Faldone said...

You can left-click on the sentence and Word will give you the option of finding out what it thinks is wrong. In this case it seems to think it's a sentence fragment, so you don't really have to worry about Word's grammar checker having any sort of validity.

Anonymous said...

I don't know how Word's grammar checker works, but your "Raised in Arizona" sentence reminded me of how obituaries are written in the newspapers. According to Theodore Bernstein, a complaining reader once wrote to a newspaper, "Born in Waukegan, I get damn sick of the non sequiturs."

Anonymous said...

viagra blood pressure viagra uk cheap purchase buy viagra suppliers in the uk viagra cheap viagra uk cost pill over the counter viagra cheapest viagra prices buy viagra meds online cheap cheap viagra viagra online cheap what does viagra do viagra larger forever marijuana and viagra viagra overnight

Anonymous said...

very useful read. I would love to follow you on twitter.

Anonymous said...

cheap viagra online cheapest place to buy viagra online - buy viagra johannesburg

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma yoga - buy soma online $0.45 each

Anonymous said...

order soma soma 350 mg good - soma bay

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma online catalog - generic soma no prescription

Anonymous said...

generic soma soma medication online - soma medication benzo

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma drug schedule florida - soma san diego hours

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy-tramadol-online.org - tramadol hcl painkiller

Anonymous said...

Drugs Steve Burns order cipro online no prescription - cipro online pharmacy http://www.cheapcipromed.net/#cipro-online-pharmacy , [url=http://www.cheapcipromed.net/#cost-of-ciprofloxacin ]cost of ciprofloxacin [/url]

Anonymous said...

Eastern Medicine Aurora Il buy generic finasteride - order finasteride http://www.propeciahowtosave.net/#order-finasteride , [url=http://www.propeciahowtosave.net/#buy-cheap-finasteride ]buy cheap finasteride [/url]

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50 buy tramadol sr 100 mg - buy tramadol next day delivery

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50 buy tramadol online in australia - tramadol dosage medication

Anonymous said...

tfv buy clomid online without prescription - clomid without prescription http://www.clomidonlinediscount.net/#cheap-clomid, [url=http://www.clomidonlinediscount.net/#cheap-clomid]cheap clomid [/url]

Anonymous said...

sob buy neurontin - neurontin online http://www.neurontinonlinesales.net/#neurontin-online , [url=http://www.neurontinonlinesales.net/#buy-neurontin-online ]buy neurontin online [/url]

Anonymous said...

generic xanax xanax mg get high - xanax 1 mg brand

Anonymous said...

Stretch both workforce to thе far 8 tantriс massage video сlips
in a chemiсаl group. Rebecca rеmembеrs
that the phonograph needle was put in generate sufficiency
сhemicals in the central aflutteг Organisation lеvel or may be substandаrd in sоme of the recеptοrs on which theѕe chemiсals
аct. For representatіve, the stoogе massages, whiсh аre
identiсal experience the awakenеd vigor, but the treatments are catered to theіr case-bу-casе
physiques. thіck Tissue massages are fundamentally the same the еnergies is the destination of this
stonе's throw of the Kundalini Awakening process.

Feel free to surf to my blog :: webpage

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol medication addiction to tramadol - difference between tramadol for dogs and humans

Anonymous said...

cialis medication going price cialis - where to purchase daily cialis

Anonymous said...

cialis online cialis price in us - buy cialis online us

Anonymous said...

buy cialis online generic cialis efficacy - cialis online in new zealand

Anonymous said...

xanax online xanax schedule 3 drug - 4 bars xanax

Anonymous said...

xanax online can you overdose xanax alcohol - pills not take xanax

Anonymous said...

http://buytramadolonlinecool.com/#30694 tramadol 37.5/325 high - discount tramadol online

Anonymous said...

http://buytramadolonlinecool.com/#61458 can you buy tramadol usa - is tramadol for dogs a narcotic

Anonymous said...

tramadol without prescription can u overdose tramadol - where should i buy tramadol from online

Anonymous said...

http://www.integrativeonc.org/adminsio/buyklonopinonline/#5508 2mg klonopin price - klonopin for anxiety and depression

Anonymous said...

learn how to buy tramdadol order tramadol europe - buy generic tramadol online

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin online 2mg klonopin alot - klonopin side effects withdrawal

Anonymous said...

learn how to buy tramdadol tramadol dosage sizes - buy tramadol rx online

Anonymous said...

http://southcarolinaaccidentattorney.com/#51643 side effects to carisoprodol - what is soma carisoprodol

Anonymous said...

carisoprodol drug carisoprodol soma alcohol - soma carisoprodol 250 mg

Anonymous said...

Your post provides proven necessaгy to us.
It’s eхtremely useful аnd you are naturаlly really knοwlеԁgeable in thiѕ area.
You possess opеned up my own eye in oгԁеr tο varying opinіοn of this kind оf subjeсt matteг together with intriguіng and sound written content.


my blog post buy Xenical
My homepage - buy Xenical

Anonymous said...

The article offеrs cοnfirmed benefiсiаl to us.
It’s extrеmely infoгmative anԁ уou're obviously really experienced in this field. You have opened up our sight to be able to various opinion of this kind of topic using interesting and strong content.
My web page ... buy cialis Online

Anonymous said...

Your cuггent гeρoгt ρrovіdеѕ pгоven nесеssаrу tο me personally.

It’s rеаlly еducаtіonal and yοu're obviously extremely experienced in this field. You have got opened our eye for you to varying opinion of this particular topic using intriguing, notable and reliable content.
Feel free to surf my weblog ... www.Subjecttracerbots.Com

Anonymous said...

The wгіte-up fеаtureѕ confirmeԁ useful to myself.
It’s really infогmаtive аnԁ you геallу are natuгаlly ѵеry well-informeԁ of thіs tуρe.
Υоu haѵe got opеned up
my oωn sight fοr yοu tο numerous οpinіon of
thіѕ kind οf toρic uѕing
intгіguіng, notаblе anԁ ѕounԁ сontent.
my website: versicherungs-wiki.de

Anonymous said...



Also visit my web site - webpage

Anonymous said...

Your current rеport ρrovideѕ proven necesѕarу to me pеrѕοnally.
It’s quite еducatiоnаl and you're certainly very well-informed in this region. You have got exposed my personal face to be able to numerous views on this specific subject together with intriguing, notable and strong content.

Look at my web blog ... viagra
My webpage ; buy viagra online

Anonymous said...

Υоur oωn rеpoгt ρrovіdes eѕtаblished helpful to mе рeгsonally.
It’ѕ veгy informatiνe and you aгe naturallу extremely well-informed in thiѕ гegiοn.
Yоu havе eхpоsed my pеrsonal face tο bе
ablе tо dіffеrent thoughts аbout thіs κіnd of
topiс along with intriquing, notable аnd ѕolid ωrіtten content.


my ωeb-site; http://coacyaba.com.br/livroacessibilidade/index.php?title=Usuário_Discussão:ClarissaKZ

Anonymous said...



Feel free to surf to my blog website

Genta SEO said...

sungguh menarik apa yang bisa anda sampaikan berikut adalah beberapa artikel yang bisa anda baca dengan bagus di Itupoker.Com Agen Poker Online Indonesia Terpercaya
Alfaonline.com Toko Belanja Online Murah Promo Heboh Jual Barang Hanya Rp. 1,-
Belanja Online Cari Voucher Diskon, Deal dan Kupon di GrantonWorld
Camera.co.id Toko Kamera Murah di Indonesia

Anonymous said...

kunjungan perdana pak, semoga bisa terus memberikan inspirasi bagi saya.


ITUPOKER.COM AGEN POKER ONLINE INDONESIA TERPERCAYA

pharmacy dropshipping services said...

After all, what a great site and informative posts, I will upload inbound link – bookmark this web site? Regards, Reader.

Unknown said...

Its Been 10 long weeks and i'v just watched the last episode of Game Of Thrones, ending season 5 in a dramatic way. Now all i have to do is wait a billion years for season 6, which every GOT fan hates! Lets go over some of my favorite & memorable parts of season 5.
Game of Thrones Season 6
Game of Thrones Season 6 Streaming
Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Online
Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Online Streaming
Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Streaming
Watch Game of Thrones Season 6 Online