Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

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Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

A modifier should be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies. Often prepositional phrases, verbal phrases or adjective clauses are too far away from the word they are meant to modify.

Misplaced Modifiers: A misplaced modifier appears to modify the wrong word in a sentence.

They often distort the meaning of the sentence or make it impossible for the reader to understand the meaning. To correct misplaced modifiers, move it closer to the word it modifies.

- Slithering through the wet grass, we watched the garden snake.
+  “we” are doing the slithering here, not the snake
- We watched the garden snake slithering through the wet grass.

Dangling Modifiers: A dangling modifier appears to modify either the wrong word or no word at all because the word it should logically modify is missing from the sentence. To correct a dangling modifier, add the missing word and rewrite the rest of the sentence as necessary.

- Pausing briefly to congratulate Barbara, the conversation continued.
+ the conversation paused to congratulate Barbara?
- Pausing briefly to congratulate Barbara, we continued the conversation.

- Driving through the desert at night, the cactuses looked eerie.
+ Cactuses that can drive are eerie!
- Driving through the desert at night, we thought the cactuses looked eerie.

- When he was three years old, Jerry’s uncle showed him how to fly a kite.
+ Jerry’s uncle is only three and already teaching his nephew?!
- When Jerry was three years old, his uncle showed him how to fly a kite.