Dangling modifiers

1. Dangling modifiers By Lauren Lollis

2. What is a dangling modifier? • A dangling modifier is when a writer tells their reader something that they didn’t actually intend to tell. • The writer words a sentence incorrectly and, in turn, the sentence doesn’t make sense.

3. Continued… • Any time a sentence begins with a modifier (such as: “After calling her boyfriend”, or “While falling from a tree,”), the noun directly following must agree with the modifier. • When the noun following does not agree with the modifier, things can look and sound a little silly. • For example, a major mistake with DM is that of giving inanimate objects human qualities.

4. examples • Running for the bus, my book fell in the mud. • Upon entering the doctor’s office, a skeleton caught my attention. • Falling from the sky, my friend was drenched in rain.

5. Correcting dangling modifiers • Running for the bus, my book fell in the mud. The way this sentence is worded makes it sound like the book was actually running, not the subject “I”. It can be corrected this way: Running from the bus, I dropped my book in the mud. After correcting this, we now see that the subject “I” is the one who was running for the bus, not the book.

6. You try • While driving away in his car, Jon’s mother waved from the doorstep.

7. solution • Jon’s mother was not the one driving away, because we stated that it was “his” car and that his mother was waving. • Because of the DM, it sounded like Jon’s mother was driving away and also waving from the doorstep. • A solution would be: “While driving away in his car, Jon saw his mother wave from the doorstep.”

8. The end • The easiest way to solve the problem of a dangling modifier is to simply reword the sentence and make sure that the modifier agrees with the noun that directly follows it.