1. A participle should not be used unless it stands in a grammatical and logical relation to some substantive that is present in the sentence. Failure to follow this rule leads to the error known as the "dangling participle." It is wrong to say, The dish was broken, resulting from its fall, because resulting does not stand in grammatical relation to any word in the sentence. But it would be right to say, The dish was broken as a result of its fall. Examine, also, the following examples:
| Wrong: I spent a week in Virginia, followed by a week at Atlantic City. |
| Right: I spent a week in Virginia, following it by a week at Atlantic City. |
| Right: I spent a week in Virginia, and then a week at Atlantic City. |
2. A participle should not stand at the beginning of a sentence or principal clause unless it belongs to the subject of that sentence or clause. Compare the following:
| Wrong: Having been sick, it was decided to remain at home. |
| Right: Having been sick, I decided to remain at home. |
3. A participle preceded by thus should not be used unless it modifies the subject of the preceding verb. Compare the following:
| Wrong: He had to rewrite several pages, thus causing him a great deal of trouble. |
| Right: He had to rewrite several pages, and was thus caused a great deal of trouble. |
| Right: He had to rewrite several pages, thus experiencing a great deal of trouble. |
4. The gerund is often used as the object of a preposition, and frequently has a noun or pronoun modifier. Owing to confusion between the gerund and the participle, and to the failure to realize that the gerund can only be used substantively, the objective case of a modifying noun or pronoun is often wrongly used before the gerund. A substantive used with the gerund should always be in the possessive case. Say, I heard of John's coming, not, I heard of John coming.
5. When a gerund and a preposition are used, the phrase should be in logical and immediate connection with the substantive it modifies, and the phrase should never introduce a sentence unless it logically belongs to the subject of that sentence. Exception: When the gerund phrase denotes a general action, it may be used without grammatical connection to the sentence; as, In traveling, good drinking water is essential. Compare the following wrong and right forms:
| Wrong: After seeing his mistake, a new start was made. |
| Right: After seeing his mistake, he made a new start. |
| Wrong: By writing rapidly, the work can be finished. |
| Right: By writing rapidly, you can finish the work. |