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Dangling Modifiers. By teacher. What they are. In sentences with dangling modifiers, the modifier (an explanation for a word) refers to the wrong word, creating a funny meaning. Example: Flattened by a truck tire, the dog ate the hamburger.
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Dangling Modifiers By teacher
What they are In sentences with dangling modifiers, the modifier (an explanation for a word) refers to the wrong word, creating a funny meaning. Example: Flattened by a truck tire, the dog ate the hamburger. The part up to the comma is the MODIFIER, and the noun directly after the comma is the WRONGLY MODIFIED WORD. Rule: the NOUN after the comma must perform the ACTION or be that what is before the comma. Otherwise, you have a dangling modifier.
As a child, your mother always said, “blablabla.” • Modifier Wrongly modified word How to color-code them
How to fix them 1. Change the word order, so the right person does the right thing. Example: “As a child, my mother always told me, ….” (WRONG) “As a child, I was always told by my mother, ….” However, this often makes the sentence passive. Rewrite it to make it active: “When I was a child, my mother always told me, …” 2. Invent a person. Example: “Waiting for the bus, the time went by slowly.” (WRONG) “As I was waiting for the bus, the time went by slowly.”
Quiz time! Now fix the sentences yourself:
