To dangle or not to dangle!
A very common English grammar error, and one of my favorites because the result of the error is often very funny, is the “dangling modifier”. A modifier is a word or phrase that changes the meaning of another word. Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers.
A house. A big house. A big green house.
He ate the sandwich. He ate the sandwich quickly. He ate the sandwich very quickly.
Can you find the adjectives and adverbs in the above sentences? Can you identify the words that the adjectives and adverbs modify?
OK, the above examples were pretty easy. People usually get in trouble with modifiers when the words are put in the wrong place in the sentence. Because the modifier is not modifying the right word, it seems to “dangle”.
Incorrect: Running for the subway, my purse fell in the mud. Your purse was running to catch the subway? No wonder it fell in the mud!
Correct: Running for the subway, I dropped my purse in the mud. Now the sentence makes sense, because the word I is what is being described by the phrase “running for the subway”.
Can you find and correct the dangling modifier in this sentence?
Incorrect: After quickly changing into my hospital gown, the nurse told me to take a deep breath.
Correct: ____________________________________________________
Contact the professional writers and editors at Writing It Right For You for help undangling your modifiers!
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