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Growing up in Missouri, they would kind of take us out into the woods. (From TED, beginging at the first 16 second )

I think this sentence is not syntactically right as it makes the mistake of "dangling participle." The subject of "growing" should be the narrator or his peers, instead of the unidentified "they."

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I think that the participle phrase applies to us. The sentence would be clearer as "When we were growing up in Missouri,..." It's a misplaced modifier, though it does have a reference in the sentence.

In the continuation of the sentence, he says "they would give you a map...", so he's not speaking very carefully.
Also, the phrase "kind of take us out into the woods" is odd. Either they took them out into the woods, or they didn't.

He's not a speaker you should imitate.

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  • thanks for your answer, I listened to this cause he's a native speaker. But as you said, he's not good, so could u recommend some listening material, preferably with subtitle, that's suitable for me?
    – HypnoticBuggyWraithVirileBevy
    Jan 18, 2021 at 9:28
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    I don't say don't listen to it, just don't imitate it. Most TED talks are better expressed than that.
    – Jack O'Flaherty
    Jan 18, 2021 at 12:17

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