The Common Mistake of Dangling Modifiers for Students and Writers

What is a Dangling modifier?

Walking down the street, a delicious pizza smell filled the air.

Who’s walking down the street? The pizza?

That’s a dangling modifier. It’s a word or phrase that describes something, but it’s not clear who or what it’s describing. It’s like it’s “dangling” in the sentence without anything to hold onto.

Here’s a better version:

As I walked down the street, a delicious pizza smell filled the air.

Now it’s clear that “I” am the one walking, and the smell is connected to me!

In formal terms, a dangling modifier is a grammatical construction where a modifying phrase or clause is left unattached to a clear and logical antecedent within the sentence. This lack of connection creates ambiguity and confusion for the reader, as the intended meaning of the modifier becomes unclear.

There are some common mistakes people make unintentionally. Three of them are the most prominent.

1. Misplaced participial phrases: These phrases begin with a verb form ending in “-ing” or “-ed” and act like adjectives. The mistake happens when the phrase seems to modify the nearest noun, but that noun doesn’t logically make sense with the action described.

Example: Rushing to the meeting, the coffee spilled all over the table. (Who was rushing? The coffee can’t rush!)

Solution: Reword the sentence to place the phrase next to the noun it actually modifies.

Example: As I rushed to the meeting, the coffee spilled all over the table.

2. Misplaced infinitive phrases: These begin with “to” and function as nouns or adverbs. The mistake happens when the phrase seems to modify something it grammatically can’t modify.

Example: To learn French, a tutor was hired. (Did the learning itself hire a tutor?)

Solution: Rewrite the sentence or use a different construction.

Example: A tutor was hired to teach me French.

3. Dangling gerunds: These are verb forms ending in “-ing” used as nouns. The mistake happens when the gerund seems to be an action performed by the subject, but it logically doesn’t make sense.

Example: Walking down the street, a melody popped into my head. (The street wasn’t walking!)

Solution: Rewrite the sentence to clarify who performed the action.

Example: As I was walking down the street, a melody popped into my head.

For starters, Use online grammar checkers as tools, but don’t solely rely on them for accurate diagnosis. Do you have any specific examples of dangling modifiers you’d like me to help you with?