Monday, January 31, 2011

Poll Results 119

Here was our question:

Is this sentence incorrect? "They crashed to the ground, taking all fourteen crew to their death."

Definitely yes
44 (48%)
Definitely no
33 (36%)
Maybe
14 (15%)

Tricky. I would go with maybe. "Deaths" sounds better, but it's not wrong to say "death." For more info on this topic, see here.
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4 comments:

  1. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2011 at 11:15 AM

    It dangles.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AshleyFebruary 1, 2011 at 10:48 AM

    I thought the issue might be a missing word after crew. I wanted to say "fourteen crew what?" Crewmen, members?

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 1, 2011 at 12:47 PM

    Hey Ashley, same here :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 1, 2011 at 1:12 PM

    The error is that the verbal phrase "taking all fourteen crew to their death(s)" has no subject. What takes them to their death? A plane, obviously. "Plane" needs to be the subject of the sentence. As it stands the participle phrase "dangles."

    ReplyDelete

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