CHAPTER EIGHT
Dangling Modifiers and Misplaced Parts
In English, clarity depends on the word order within sentences. We expect most adjectives and adjectival clauses and phrases to come either immediately before or immediately after the words they modify unless they are subject complements, joined to the words they modify by linking verbs. For example, it is common to find sentences like this one:
The quick, brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
[The adjectives “quick,” “brown,” and “lazy” come immediately before the nouns they modify.]
And it is common to find sentences like this one:
The beggar, sad and old, held out his hand to me.
[The adjectives “sad” and “old” come immediately after the noun they modify.]
But adverbs and adverbial phrases are often separated by other words from the words or phrases they modify. We say “They began their job yesterday,” and we know without thinking much about it that the adverb “yesterday” modifies the verb “began,” albeit the words “their job” come between the verb and its modifier. It is not conventional in English to say “They began yesterday their job.” And we also write sentences like this one: “When she was young, she played softball every Saturday.” The adverbial clause “When she was young” modifies the verb “played,” and so does the adverb “Saturday.” But both the clause and the simple adverb are separated from the verb by other words.
So the trick in English is to know when you can separate modifiers from the words or phrases they modify and when you cannot. And in general you can separate adverbs and adverbials from the words they modify more easily than you can separate adjectives from the words they modify.
Yet even adverbs and adverbial phrases can be misplaced. In general, for example, an adverbial phrase modifies the nearest verb. It may be separated from that verb by other words, but English idiom makes us expect to join adverbs and adverbials to the nearest possible verb. When another verb gets in the way, our sentences get into trouble, as in the following sentences from one of the humorous squibs in The New Yorker:
Wednesday morning, Lee’s oldest son Mike signed a national letter of intent with Indiana University to play football for the Hoosiers in the family kitchen at 3838 Ashland Drive West Lafayette
[The writer intended to make the adverbial prepositional phrase “in the family kitchen” modify the verb “signed.” But since it is nearer to the infinitive phrase “to play football,” it seems to modify that phrase, giving the impression that Mike is going to be running for touchdowns over the kitchen sink.]
During the lecture, Johanson will describe the discovery of a band of the new species of hominids who appeared to have been killed simultaneously by some disaster with color slides.
[The writer has intended to make the prepositional phrase “with color slides” modify the verb phrase “will describe.” But it is nearer to and appears to describe the noun “disaster” and seems to be an adjectival phrase.]
Confusing: She served hamburgers to the men on paper plates. [Surely the hamburgers, not the men, were on paper plates.]
Clear: She served the men hamburgers on paper plates.
The lesson of errors like these should be to remind you to keep the related parts of a sentence as close to each other as you can. Otherwise you may create confusion for your readers.
a Avoid dangling or misplaced participles.
Introductory participles and participial phrases must modify the grammatical subject of the sentence. Participles that do not modify the grammatical subject are called dangling or misplaced participles. A dangling participle lacks a noun to modify.
Dangling: After drying up the Turkish and Asian poppy supplies, Mexico
[As written, the sentence means that Mexico Mexico
A misplaced participle occurs in a sentence containing a noun that the participle should modify. But since the participle is misplaced, it modifies the wrong noun instead.
Misplaced: Born in 1812, the novel commonly called The Pickwick Papers made Charles Dickens famous by the age of 25.
[“Born in 1812,” the past participle, should modify “Charles Dickens.” Instead it seems to modify the noun “novel” so that the book appears to have been born in 1812.]
As noted above, the only way to correct dangling and misplaced modifiers is to make a complete revision of the sentence.
Revised: Born in 1812, Charles Dickens became famous at the age of 25 when he published the novel commonly called The Pickwick Papers.
[The sentence has been rewritten to make “Charles Dickens” the grammatical subject, modified by the introductory participial phrase “Born in 1812.”]
Dangling: Having studied small-engine repair in night school, fixing the lawn mower was easy.
[The subject of the sentence is the gerund “fixing.” But “the fixing” cannot have studied small-engine repair in night school. The writer had a subject in mind when he started the sentence but forgot it when he wrote the rest, so there is nothing in the second part of the sentence for the introductory phrase to modify.]
Revised: Having studied small-engine repair in night school, Jane found that fixing the lawn mower was easy.
[The introductory phrase now modifies the subject, Jane.]
or
Revised: After Jane studied small-engine repair in night school, fixing the lawn mower was easy.
[The opening has been changed to an adverbial clause.]
Dangling: Driving along Route 66, the sun shone in Carmela’s face.
This sentence says that the sun was driving along Route 66.
Revised: Driving along Route 66, Carmela found the sun shining in her face.
[Now it is clearly Carmela who was driving along Route 66. The sentence has been revised to place a correct subject after the modifying participle at the beginning.]
or
Revised: When Carmela drove along Route 66, the sun shone in her face.
[The introductory phrase has been rewritten so that the sentence now begins with a clause.]
Dangling: Using elaborate charts and graphs, the audience understood the plan.
[The sentence says that the audience used the charts and graphs to understand the plan.]
Revised: Using elaborate charts and graphs, the mayor explained the plan to the audience.
[The added noun “mayor” becomes the subject of the rewritten sentence, and the introductory participial phrase now modifies the subject correctly.]
or
Revised: Because the mayor used elaborate charts and graphs, the audience understood the plan.
[Now the sentence begins with an introductory clause that serves as an adverb modifying the verb “understood.”]
Although dangling participles usually come at the beginning of a sentence, they can come at the end.
Dangling: The work was hard, sweating over hot machinery, bending in cramped spaces, sometimes mashing his fingers, skinning his knees, twisting heavy wrenches, and getting home late and exhausted every night.
[The writer has attached a series of participial phrases to the end of the sentence. Such participial phrases at the end of the sentence, often called free modifiers, should modify the subject of the sentence. But these modifiers cannot modify the subject, work.]
Revised: He worked hard, sweating over hot machinery, bending in cramped spaces, sometimes mashing his fingers, skinning his knees, twisting heavy wrenches, and getting home late and exhausted every night.
[Now all participial phrases modify the subject, he.]
Note: Avoid confusing absolute phrases with dangling modifiers. Absolute phrases contain both a noun and a present or past participle. They stand by themselves in sentences and do not modify single words, although they add to the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
Absolute Phrases
Intercollegiate athletic programs have become big business, their coaches paid more than presidents, their teams far better known than professors, their revenues contributing more to the general fund than tuition.
The absolute constructions are “their coaches paid more than presidents,” “their teams far better known than professors,” and “their revenues contributing more to the general fund than tuition.” Each of these absolutes names something, and each concludes with a participle that modifies what is named.
He remembered the old days in the now-abandoned railroad station, the steam locomotives puffing in and out, the newspaper boys shouting the headlines, passengers climbing down and looking around for taxis, a hum of activity filling the air.
[This sentence includes a string of absolute phrases, each naming something with a noun, then modifying the noun with a present participial phrase. The absolute phrases do not dangle.]
Usage Note
Informal usage frequently accepts the following forms that combine an introductory participle with the expletive “it,” especially when the participle expresses a habitual or general action.
Walking in the country at dawn, it is easy to see many different kinds of birds.
[The statement is general, expressing something that would be done by anyone. Many writers and editors would prefer this revision: “Walking in the country at dawn is an easy way to see many different kinds of birds.”]
When beginning a new exercise program, it is good to have a complete physical examination by a doctor.
[The statement is general, and to many writers it seems preferable to an informal statement like this one: “When you begin a new exercise program, you should have a complete physical examination by a doctor.” Or a formal statement like this one: “When one begins a new exercise program, one should have a complete physical examination by a doctor.” But many other writers—perhaps a majority—would revise the sentence to read like this: “Anyone who begins a new exercise program should have a complete physical examination by a doctor.”]
Exercise 1. Rewrite any of the following sentences that have dangling or misplaced participles. If a sentence does not have a dangling or misplaced participle, put a check beside it. If a sentence contains an absolute, write an A beside it.
1. Daydreaming about his new job, the doorbell startled him.
2. Working hard through the night, the job was finished by daybreak.
3. Everything went off exactly as planned, the false Arab sheik sitting in costume on a sofa, the congressmen led in one by one, the bribes offered, the congressmen making excuses for themselves to have reasons for taking the money, the FBI moving at last to put them under arrest.
4. Riding hard through the night, Paul Revere spread the alarm through Middlesex County to the sleeping town of Lexington
5. Backed into a corner and hurt, the bell barely saved him.
6. Walking along the street, the city seemed calm.
7. Using a word processor, he was able to revise his paper in a couple of hours and turn in the finished product the next day, every error corrected and some sentences rewritten in a much more effective style.
8. Having played hard, the loss was bitter.
9. Taking the ship from New York
10. Having been aged in an oak barrel for twelve years, he discovered that the wine was exactly to his taste.
11. The marathon was difficult, running up hills, knowing his shoes were inferior, sweating hard, thirsting for water.
12. They enjoyed the meal, talking, laughing, telling old stories, and drinking too much.
13. Having cleaned up the house, the garage was next on the list.
14. Looking up, the long V-shaped flock of geese could be seen by everyone in the valley.
15. Turning the car down the valley road, he could see the long shadows cast by the stark white moon, the houses shut up against the night, and the road itself running like a stripe painted across the earth and disappearing into the dark in the distance.
b Avoid the misplaced prepositional phrase that modifies the wrong element in the sentence.
Prepositional phrases used as adjectives seldom give trouble. We use them commonly in speech, and these speech habits transfer readily to writing:
The book on the table belongs to me.
[The prepositional phrase “on the table” is used as an adjective modifying the noun “book.”]
We lived in a house near the school.
[The prepositional phrase “near the school” is used as an adjective modifying the noun “house.”]
Prepositional phrases used as adverbs are harder to place in sentences, and sometimes writers are led astray by their adverbial phrases.
Misplaced: He saw the first dive-bombers approaching from the bridge of the battleship.
[The misplaced prepositional phrase “from the bridge” makes it seem that the dive-bombers were approaching from the bridge of the battleship.]
Revised: From the bridge of the battleship, he saw the first dive-bombers approaching.
[“From the bridge” now clearly modifies the verb “saw.”]
Misplaced: The German chancellor was introduced to Americans on television.
[The position of the prepositional phrase “on television” functions as an adjective modifying the noun “Americans.”]
Revised: The German chancellor was introduced on television to Americans.
[Now the position of the prepositional phrase makes it function as an adverb modifying the verb phrase “was introduced.”]
Misplaced: He ran the ten-kilometer race from the shopping mall through the center of town to the finish line by the monument in his bare feet.
[The misplaced adverbial prepositional phrase “in his bare feet” might make a rapid reader think that the monument was in his bare feet.]
Revised: In his bare feet he ran the ten-kilometer race from the shopping mall through the center of town to the finish line by the monument.
[“In his bare feet” is now close enough to the verb “ran” to avoid confusion.]
or
Revised: From the shopping mall, through the center of town to the finish line by the monument, he ran the ten-kilometer race in his bare feet.
[This version preserves the sentence emphasis that the writer wanted in the first draft of the sentence, keeping the surprising phrase “in his bare feet” until the end.]
c Avoid the misplaced clause that modifies the wrong sentence element.
Misplaced: Professor Peebles taught the course on the English novel that most students dropped after three weeks.
[Did they drop the course or the novel?]
Revised: Professor Peebles taught the course on the English novel, a course most students dropped after three weeks.
[The repetition of the word “course” before the adjectival clause makes the modification clear. Students dropped the course, not the novel.]
or
Revised: After three weeks, most students dropped Professor Peebles’ course on the English novel.
[This version is a more thorough revision, and the need of a dependent clause has disappeared. The extent of such a revision will depend on the writer’s view of what is most important in the sentence, a view that will be decided by the context of the sentence.]
Misplaced: For five years Dixon
[Was law hard, or was her schedule hard?]
Revised: For five years Dixon
or
Revised: For five years Dixon
[In both revisions, a long original sentence has been broken into two shorter ones. When you have trouble with modification, you can often clarify your thought by using two sentences instead of one.]
Exercise 2. Rewrite the following sentences to correct errors in modification.
1. Marco Polo traveled overland to China
2. He stood in the middle of the room and shouted at everyone in his pajamas.
3. He bought a digital watch at the jewelry shop which ran on tiny batteries.
4. She wrote the outline of her book on the wall in the kitchen with a black crayon.
5. When she was a little girl, she used to lie awake at night wishing that she had a horse in her bedroom.
6. The boat lost its sail in the hard wind which was made of canvas.
7. The senator returned to Capitol Hill after a long illness on Monday.
8. I watched a film clip of the accident in my hospital bed.
9. The artist painted a canvas at a summer retreat that imitated Monet’s style.
10. The consulate received the letter from a messenger with exotic stamps.
11. Trisha delivered a party platter to the host wrapped in cellophane.
12. The electric typewriter needs repair in the library.
13. Marie opened the book given to her last Christmas by Charles Dickens.
14. The bell is an heirloom that you hear chiming.
15. She stared at the people standing nearby with flashing eyes.
16. Buffalo gains a huge supply of hydroelectric power from Niagara Falls
d Avoid the confusing adverb or adverbial phrase that seems to modify both the element that comes immediately before it and the element that comes immediately after it.
A squinting modifier is one that may refer to either a preceding or a following word, leaving the reader uncertain about what it is intended to modify. A modifier can modify only one grammatical element in a sentence. It cannot serve two elements at once.
Confusing: To read a good book completely satisfies her.
[Does reading a book satisfy her completely? Or must she read the book completely to be satisfied?]
Revised: She is completely satisfied when she reads a good book.
or
Revised: She is satisfied when she reads a good book completely.
Confusing: Changing gears continually gives mental exercise to people who ride bicycles.
[Does the writer mean that continually changing gears provides mental exercise or that changing gears gives mental exercise continually?]
Revised: Continually changing gears gives mental exercise to people who ride bicycles.
or
Revised: Changing gears gives continual mental exercise to people who ride bicycles.
[Notice that in the second revision, “continual” is an adjective. In the first revision, merely changing the position of “continually” clarifies the meaning of the sentence.]
Exercise 3. Rewrite the following sentences to eliminate the confusion of adverbs that may modify two elements in a sentence.
1. The car starting easily made this the best day of my trip.
2. People who disliked long hair very much liked having ten-dollar bills with long-haired Alexander Hamilton’s picture on the front.
3. A scholar who studies often goes to sleep over her books.
4. People who love to criticize books sometimes do not write books themselves.
5. She woke up suddenly pushing off the covers.
6. The work that he hoped would satisfy him completely frustrated him.
7. People who sunbathe frequently can damage their skin.
8. The contestant who answered the first question completely lost his concentration during the second round.
9. The baseball team that wins championships most of the time has excellent pitching.
10. I told my son when the game was over I would play with him.
11. People who see psychologists occasionally will feel better.
e As a rule, place one-word modifiers that define degree, extent, or limitation before the words or phrases that they modify.
These modifiers are called limiting and include words like merely, completely, fully, perfectly, hardly, nearly, almost, even, just, simply, scarcely, only, and exactly. They modify the expressions that immediately follow them.
Note the differences in meaning in the following sentences:
The almost exhausted man finished the marathon.
The exhausted man almost finished the marathon.
The completely restored antique cars paraded proudly through the admiring town.
The restored antique cars paraded proudly through the completely admiring town.
In speaking, we sometimes put limiting modifiers in illogical places, but the sense of what we say is clear from the tone of our voice, our gestures, or the general context. In writing, though, lack of logic in misplaced modifiers can cause confusion.
Confusing: He only had one bad habit, but it just was enough to keep him in trouble.
[The word “only” in the sentence seems to modify the verb “had,” and the word “just” modifies the adjective “enough.”]
Revised: He had only one bad habit, but it was just enough to keep him in trouble.
Confusing: They were all nearly about to graduate, but they wouldn’t even send one invitation because all of them decided almost that the commencement speaker would insult the intelligence of the audience.
[The adverb “nearly” seems to modify “about,” but the phrase “about to graduate” and “nearly” say something similar; “even” seems to modify “send,” and “almost” seems to modify the entire dependent clause that comes after it. The sentence is difficult to understand.]
Revised: They were nearly all about to graduate, but they wouldn’t send even one invitation because all of them decided that the commencement speaker would insult the intelligence of the audience.
f Avoid separating a subject from its verb or a verb from its object or complement.
When we read a sentence, we expect the subject, verb, and object or complement to be close to each other. If adjective phrases or clauses separate them, the meaning is usually clear.
The wreckers who were demolishing the old house discovered a large box of coins. [The subject, wreckers, and the verb, discovered, are separated by the adjective clause beginning “who.”]
However, if an adverb phrase or clause interrupts the movement from subject to verb to object or complement, the resulting sentence is likely to be awkward and confusing.
Awkward: The wreckers, soon after they began demolishing the old house, discovered a large box of coins. [The clause beginning “soon after” interrupts the movement from subject to verb.]
Revised: Soon after they began demolishing the old house, the wreckers discovered a large box of coins.
Awkward: Three of the wreckers lifted, with great effort, the heavy box. [The phrase beginning “with” interrupts the movement from verb to object.]
Revised: Three of the wreckers lifted the heavy box with great effort.
g Avoid separating the parts of a verb phrase or the parts of an infinitive.
A verb phrase consists of a helping verb plus a main verb, as in “will call,” “was going,” “had been writing.” Such phrases constitute close grammatical units. We regularly insert single-word adverbs in them without causing awkwardness: Joshua had almost completed his assignment. But when longer word groups interrupt verb phrases, the result is almost always awkward.
Awkward: Many students had, by spending most of their time on the assignment, completed it.
Revised: By spending most of their time on the assignment, many students had completed it.
or
Revised: Many students had completed the assignment by spending most of their time on it.
Infinitives consist of the marker “to” plus the plain form of a verb: to produce, to enjoy. The two parts of the infinitive are widely regarded as a grammatical unit that should not be split.
Awkward: The weather service expected temperatures to not rise.
Revised: The weather service expected temperatures not to rise.
Note, however, that a split infinitive may sometimes be natural and preferable, though it may still bother some readers.
Several U.S.
[We could recast the sentence entirely: Several U.S. industries expect to increase their use of robots by over 200 percent within the next decade. But the split construction seems acceptable for economy.]
Exercise 4. On your paper, rewrite each of the following sentences, eliminating all misplaced or dangling modifiers.
SAMPLE Henry Ford revolutionized industry in the United States
ANSWER Using assembly lines, Henry Ford revolutionized industry in the United States
1. Henry Ford’s first gasoline engine was built at the age of thirty.
2. Supported on bicycle wheels, Ford constructed his first car.
3. His first automobile is on exhibition in Michigan
4. Ford built the inexpensive “Model T” convinced that everyone should own an automobile.
5. Produced on an assembly line, Henry Ford made cars inexpensively.
6. As they moved along a conveyor belt, each worker performed a separate task in assembling the cars.
7. Inexpensive to manufacture, the price of the Model T was only $260 in 1925.
8. Model T’s were seen all over, affordable to people with modest incomes.
9. Few people owned cars before the introduction of Model T, although they are a common possession today.
10. Half of the automobiles in the United States
11. Ford decided to share the company’s profits with his employees, encouraged by his success.
12. Located in Willow Run, Michigan
13. Ford donated a great deal of money, along with his son, Edsel, to the charitable Ford Foundation.
14. Wishing to commemorate human progress in the fields of science and technology, the Henry Ford museum was established.
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