15 | Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
15|Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
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Instructor's Notes
To assign the lettered questions that appear in the exercises for this unit, go to "Browse Resources for this Unit" or to the "Resources" tab. Students can also complete the numbered exercises for practice.To assign LearningCurve adaptive quizzing activities on the topics covered in this unit, go to the LearningCurve unit that follows this one.To download handouts of the Learning by Doing activities that appear in this unit, and to access lecture slides, teaching tips, and Instructor's Manual materials, go to the "Instructor Resources" folder at the end of this unit.
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Effective Sentences
The purpose of a modifier, such as an adjective or adverb, is to give readers more information. To do so, the modifier must be linked clearly to whatever it is meant to modify or describe.
15aKeep modifiers close to what they modify.
Misplaced modifiers—phrases and clauses that wander away from what they modify—produce results more likely to amuse readers than to inform them. Place your modifiers as close as possible to whatever they modify.
15bPlace each modifier so that it clearly modifies only one thing.
A squinting modifier is one that looks two ways, leaving the reader uncertain whether it modifies the word before or after it. To avoid ambiguity, place your modifier close to the word it modifies and away from another that might cause confusion.
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| SQUINTING | The book that appealed to Amy tremendously bored Marcus. |
| CLEAR | The book that tremendously appealed to Amy bored Marcus. |
| CLEAR | The book that appealed to Amy bored Marcus tremendously. |
EXERCISE 15-1 Placing Modifiers
Revise the following sentences, which contain modifiers that are misplaced or squinting. Example:
The bus got stuck in a ditch full of passengers.
He was daydreaming about fishing for trout in the middle of a meeting.
The boy threw the paper airplane through an open window with a smirk.
I reached for my sunglasses when the glare appeared in the glove compartment.
High above them, Sally and Glen watched the kites drift back and forth.
In her soup she found a fly at one of the best restaurants in town.
Andy learned how to build kites from the pages of an old book.
Alex vowed to return to the island sometime soon on the day he left it.
The fish was carried in a suitcase wrapped in newspaper.
The reporters were informed of the crimes committed by a press release.
15cState something in the sentence for each modifier to modify.
A main clause is a group of words that has both a subject and a verb and can stand alone as a complete sentence (see 4a).
Generally readers assume that a modifying phrase at the start of a sentence refers to the subject of the main clause to follow. If readers encounter a modifying phrase midway through a sentence, they assume that it modifies something just before or (less often) after it.
Feeling tired after the long hike, Jason went to bed.
Alicia, while sympathetic, was not inclined to help.
Sometimes a writer slips up, allowing a modifying phrase to dangle. A dangling modifier is one that doesn’t modify anything in its sentence.
| DANGLING | Noticing a pain behind his eyes, an aspirin seemed a good idea. [The opening doesn’t modify aspirin or, in fact, anything.] |
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To correct a dangling modifier, first figure out what noun, pronoun, or noun phrase the modifier is meant to modify. Then make that word or phrase the subject of the main clause.
| CLEAR | Noticing a pain behind his eyes, he decided to take an aspirin. |
Another way to correct a dangling modifier is to turn the dangler into a clause that includes the missing noun or pronoun.
Sometimes rewriting will clarify what the modifier modifies.
EXERCISE 15-2 Revising Dangling Modifiers
Revise any sentences that contain dangling modifiers. Some sentences may be correct. Example:
Unpacking the suitcase, a horrible idea occurred to me.
After fixing breakfast that morning, the oven might be left on at home.
Trying to reach my neighbor, her phone was busy.
Desperate to get information, my solution was to ask my mother to drive over to check the oven.
With enormous relief, my mother’s call confirmed everything was fine.
After working six hours, the job was done.
Further information can be obtained by calling the specified number.
To compete in the Olympics, talent, training, and dedication are needed.
Pressing hard on the brakes, the car spun into a hedge.
Showing a lack of design experience, the architect advised the student to take her model back to the drawing board.