SAT® · Reading and Writing: Form, Structure, and Sense — Modifiers, Genitives, and Plurals
The Introductory Participial Phrase
Watch it explained
- How it worksHow does an opening modifier behave like a hook that grabs the very first noun it can reach?
- Worked exampleWalk me through why 'Buried for centuries, the archaeologist found the mosaic' draws the wrong picture.
- Common mistakeWhy isn't it enough that the intended noun turns up somewhere later in the sentence?
- Going furtherWhat happens when the half after the comma opens with 'there was' or 'it was' instead of a noun?
Check yourself
Your turneasy1 of 3
Buried for more than 15 centuries beneath a field 10 kilometres outside the town, ___
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?End of topic.