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Dangling Modifier

Let’s first discuss briefly what is a modifier.

A modifier is a word, phrase or clause that modifies (gives more information about) another word phrase or clause.

See the following example where a phrase (a group of words) acts as a modifier.

  • Being a student, I should prefer studying books over watching movies.

In the above example, the phrase (being a student) acts as a modifier for the remaining part of the sentence. The remaining part of the sentence is a clause which can stand alone as a complete sentence. The modifier phrase simply gives more information about this clause. It tells why I should prefer studying books over watching movies. It adds the information that since I am a student, I should prefer studying my books over watching movies.  

   WHAT IS A DANGLING MODIFIER?

A dangling modifier is a modifier (word, phrase or clause) that does not clearly refer to the part of the sentence (e.g., word, phrase, or clause within the sentence) which is modified by it.

In simple words, a reader may find it difficult to understand which part of the sentence is modified by the modifier. Such a modifier seems to dangle between or among parts of the sentence and cannot be linked to a specific part of the sentence which is, in real, modified by the modifier.

Having a dangling modifier in a sentence is a writing mistake. Sometimes a sentence is structured in a way to cause modifier dangle between or among its part. A dangling modifier is also called a dangling participle if it includes present participle or past participle, as explained at the end of this page.

Here are some simple examples to understand the dangling modifier.

  Examples. 1

  • At the age of fourteen, my father took me to London.

The phrase ‘at the age of fourteen’ is a dangling modifier. Due to this dangling modifier, this sentence means something different than what the speaker intends to say. The way the sentence is structured confuses the reader to think whether the father of the speaker was 14 years old, or the speaker was 14 years old when the speaker was taken to London by his father.

Using common sense, one can understand that when the speaker was 14 years old, he was taken to London by his father, because a 14-years-old person cannot have a child. This is actually what the speaker intends to say. However, the way the sentence is structured, it means something different from what the speaker intends to say. It means when his father (not him) was 14 years old, he was taken by his father to London. This is because the word ‘my father’ comes right after the modifier phrase (at the age of fourteen), and the modifier generally modifies the closest word to it within the sentence. Therefore, the modifier modifies the age of the father rather than the age of the speaker.

As mentioned earlier, using common sense, one can make sense of this sentence. However, keeping common sense aside, the structure of the sentence is grammatically wrong. Moreover, this is an easy example to explain the dangling modifier. When dangling modifiers are used in many other sentences where common sense may not be applicable, then it makes a problem. see some examples at the end of the page.

A dangling modifier is a writing mistake and is corrected by re-structuring the sentence or using some extra words in the sentence. The above example can be corrected as follows:

  • At the age of fourteen, I was taken to London by my father. (wrong).
  • When I was fourteen years old, my father took me to London. (correct).

  Example 2.

Before learning how to correct sentences with dangling modifiers, let’s see another simple example.

  • Flying in the sky, I saw a huge flock of birds.

The phrase ‘flying in the sky’ is a dangling modifier. It confuses the reader to think whether the speaker or the flock of birds was flying, when the speaker saw the flock of birds in the sky. Again, using common sense, we know that ‘the flock birds’ is the likely target of the modifier phrase. However, the way the sentence is written means the opposite: the speaker was flying in the sky when he saw a huge flock of birds.

To give the intended meaning, the above sentence can be corrected by restructuring the sentence as follows:

  • I saw a huge flock of birds flying in the sky.

   CORRECTING THE DANGLING MODIFIERS

A sentence having a dangling modifier can be corrected in the following ways:

  • Re-structuring the sentence.
  • Adding a few words (missing words) to the sentence.
  • Changing the voice of the sentence or its part (from Active to Passive voice, vice versa)

First, focus on the target word (noun or pronoun) that is likely to be modified by the dangling modifier and then, make changes to the sentence in the above three ways to correct it.

  Example 1.

  • Having a funny face, the kids were laughing at the Joker. (Wrong). 
  • The kids were laughing at the joker having a funny face.  (Correct).
  • The kids were laughing at the joker who had a funny face. (Correct).
In the above example, the the corrections have been made by re-arranging the words of the sentences and adding a few words to the sentences.

  Example 2.

  • Crying out of pain, the doctor encouraged the patient. (Wrong).
  • The doctor encouraged the patient who was crying out of pain. (Correct).
In the above example, the the correction has been made by re-arranging the words of the sentence and adding a few words to the sentence.

  Example 3.

  • Answering the questions correctly, the interviewer selected him for the job. (Wrong)
  • Answering the questions correctly, he was selected for the job by the interviewer. (Correct)
  • The interviewer selected him for the job because he had answered the questions correctly. (Correct)
In the above example, the first correction has been made by converting the second part of sentence from active voice to passive voice. The second correction has been made by re-arranging the words of the sentence and adding a few words to the sentence.

  Example 4.

  • Already worried about him, the sudden news of his death shocked his wife. (wrong).
  • The sudden news of his death shocked his wife who was already worried about him. (correct).
In the above example, the the correction has been made by re-arranging the words of the sentence and adding a few words to the sentence.

  Example 5.

  • Tired of whole day work, watching a movie relaxed me. (Wrong)
  • Tired of whole day work, I was relaxed by watching a movie. (Correct)

The dangling modifiers are corrected by re-structuring the sentence to clear the dangling confusion and to give a clear sense of the word being modified by the dangling modifier.

   DANGLING PARTICIPLES

A dangling modifier is also called a dangling participle if it contains a present participle (e.g., 1st form of verb + ing) or a past participle (2nd form of a verb).

An example of dangling participle having present participle:

  • Crying out of pain, the doctor encouraged the patient. (Wrong).

An example of dangling participle having past participle:

  • Tired of whole day work, watching a movie relaxed me.

Some dangling modifiers do not have a present or past participle. Such a modifier cannot be called a dangling participle. Such a modifier is simply called a dangling modifier. Read the following example.

  • At the age of fourteen, my father took me to London.