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Dangling & Misplaced modifiers

The document discusses common modifier mistakes, including misplaced, squinting, and dangling modifiers, and provides examples of each type. It emphasizes the importance of placing modifiers close to the words they describe to avoid confusion. Additionally, it includes a quiz to test understanding of modifiers and their classifications.

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Zahid Gujjar
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3 views

Dangling & Misplaced modifiers

The document discusses common modifier mistakes, including misplaced, squinting, and dangling modifiers, and provides examples of each type. It emphasizes the importance of placing modifiers close to the words they describe to avoid confusion. Additionally, it includes a quiz to test understanding of modifiers and their classifications.

Uploaded by

Zahid Gujjar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Common modifier mistakes

In simple sentences, it is usually easy to understand what a modifier is


modifying. However, when we begin adding more information into longer
sentences, we must be careful that we make it clear which elements are
modifying which parts of the sentence.
If we place a modifier too far away from the thing it describes, it can become a
misplaced modifier. In some cases, a modifier may be in the correct position for
its intended recipient, but too close to another element, making it look like it is
describing the wrong thing; this is known as a squinting modifier.
We must also make sure that the thing being modified is explicitly stated in the
text, otherwise we might be left with a dangling modifier.

Misplaced modifiers
A misplaced modifier can occur when we don’t place the modifier close enough
to the word that it modifies, making its meaning unclear or incorrect. For
example:
• “Burton was driving around the countryside while his friend sang songs
slowly.”
Because of its placement in the above sentence, we would presume that the
adverb slowly is modifying sang. If it is meant to modify driving, the adverb
should be placed directly before or after the verb it’s modifying to eliminate this
confusion, as in:
• “Burton was slowly driving around the countryside while his friend sang
songs.”
or
• “Burton was driving slowly around the countryside while his friend sang
songs.”
Here’s another example:
• “The rusted woman’s bicycle made a horrible screeching noise.”
Now the sentence is completely incorrect, because, due to its position, rusted is
modifying woman instead of bicycle. The sentence should read:
• “The woman’s rusted bicycle made a horrible screeching noise.”
With participle phrases
These types of errors often occur with participle phrases. Because they can
appear in the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, it is can be easy to
misplace the noun or noun phrase they are modifying. For instance:
• “Terrified after watching a scary movie, my father had to comfort my little
sister.”
In the above sentence, the participle phrase terrified after watching a scary
movie is supposed to modify my little sister. However, since my father appears
closer to the participle phrase, it seems it is the father who is terrified.
The sentence should be rewritten to correct the misplaced modifier. For example:
• “My father had to comfort my sister, terrified after watching a scary movie.”
or
• “Terrified after watching a scary movie, my sister had to be comforted by my
father.”
or
• “My sister, terrified after watching a scary movie, had to be comforted by
my father.”

Squinting modifiers
Occasionally we use a modifier in the correct technical position, but its meaning
can be misconstrued because of another word that is too close to it. This usually
happens with adverbials, as they can appear before or after the words they
modify. For example:
• “The way he sings so often annoys me.”
So often seems like it could be modifying either sings or annoys, because it’s
technically in the correct position for both. We should rewrite the sentence to
make it more clear what is meant:
• “The way he sings so often is annoying to me.” (modifies sings)
or
• “The way he sings annoys me so often.” (modifies annoys)

Dangling modifiers
A dangling modifier occurs when we don’t clearly state the noun that is
supposed to be modified by the modifying phrase. These are especially common
with participle phrases. For example:
• “Walking down the road, the birds were singing.”
Because the sentence does not state who was walking down the road, is seems
that it was the birds, which is probably not the intended meaning. The sentence
needs to include another noun or pronoun being described by the phrase to
correct the dangling modifier. For example:
• “Walking down the road, I (or she, he, Mary, the couple, etc.) heard the birds
singing.”

Quiz
(answers start on page 610)
1. Which of the following are not classified as modifiers?
a) Particles
b) Adjectives
c) Prepositions
d) Adverbs
e) A & C
f) B & D

2. What are the two main syntactic categories of adjectives?


a) Attributive and predicative
b) Compound and Comparative
c) Demonstrative and Interrogative
d) Nominal and Collective

3. A participle phrase is what kind of modifier?


a) Adverbial phrase
b) Adjective phrase
c) Adverbial clause
d) Adjective clause

4. What introduces a relative clause?


a) A relative pronoun
b) A relative adverb

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