LEO: Literacy Education Online
Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
We often use phrases to describe words within sentences, and we
determine the meaning of our sentences by placing these descriptive
phrases next to the words they point to or "modify." For example, the
sentence, "I saw a boy running down the street," indicates that the
"boy" was doing the running. However, if we wrote, "Running down
the street, I saw the boy," we would be suggesting to readers that "I"
was doing the running.
Misplaced Modifiers
Sometimes we become careless and place descriptive phrases far away
from the words they modify, making our sentences unclear or
inaccurate. We call these phrases misplaced modifiers. For example,
in "I was told that I had been awarded the scholarship by my
professor," does the underlined phrase mean that the professor did the
telling or the awarding? If the professor did the telling, we could make
the meaning of this sentence clearer by repositioning the phrase: "I
was told by my professor that I had been awarded the scholarship."
Dangling Modifiers
Other times we write descriptive phrases that point to or modify words
that are not clearly stated in our sentences, making our sentences
illogical. We call these phrases dangling modifiers. For example, in
"Walking to college on a subzero morning, my left ear became frozen,"
the underlined phrase modifies "my left ear." This doesn't make sense;
some person must have been doing the walking. We can clarify the
sentence by putting a logical word after the phrase: for example,
"Walking to college on a subzero morning, I froze my left ear." Or, we
can change the phrase so that it has a logical subject and verb in it:
"When I was walking to college on a subzero morning, my left ear
became frozen."
The following table includes sentences with dangling and misplaced
modifiers, as well as a possible revision for each and an explanation of
why the revision is necessary.
Examples of Dangling and
Misplaced Modifiers
On July 20, 1969, American
astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin
"Buzz" Aldrin landed on the moon,
watched by nearly a fifth of the
world's population.
After seeing the benefits of reduced
employee turnover, absenteeism, and
lateness, onsite daycare is being
provided more frequently as a perk
for working parents.
Revisions
Watched by nearly a fifth
of the world's population,
American astronauts Neil
Armstrong and Edwin
"Buzz" Aldrin landed on
the moon on July 20, 1969.
(The world was not watching
the moon; the world was
watching the astronauts.)
After seeing the benefits of
reduced employee
turnover, absenteeism,
and lateness, more and
more companies are
providing onsite daycare
as a perk for working
parents.
(Onsite daycare is not seeing
the benefits of reduced
turnover, absenteeism, and
lateness; companies are
seeing these benefits as a
result of onsite daycare.)
An author who did not receive much
attention until after her death,
readers of all ages enjoy Emily
Dickinson's poetry today.
or
Readers of all ages enjoy Emily
Dickinson's poetry today, an author
who did not receive much attention
until after her death.
Today, readers of all ages
enjoy the poetry of Emily
Dickinson, an author who
did not receive much
attention until after her
death.
(The phrase, an author who
did not receive much
attention until after her death,
should modify Emily Dickinson
rather than readers or Emily
Dickinson's poetry.)
Cost-efficient and convenient, many
of today's corporate employees are
being trained through computerassisted instruction.
Having submitted the conference
registration form after the deadline,
special permission by the chairperson
Cost-efficient and
convenient, computerassisted instruction is
being used by many
companies to train
employees.
(The descriptive words, costefficient and convenient,
modify computer-assisted
instruction rather than today's
corporate employees.)
Having submitted the
conference registration
form after the deadline,
was needed before she could give her
presentation.
Susan needed special
permission from the
chairperson before she
could give her
presentation.
(The example doesn't make
sense as it is written.
Someone must have
submitted the form late.
According to the revision,
Susan submitted the form
late.)
When purchasing a cellular phone,
the wide variety of calling plans and
features overwhelms many people.
When purchasing a cellular
phone, many people
become overwhelmed by
the wide variety of calling
plans and features.
(The calling plans and
features aren't purchasing
cellular phones. People
purchase cellular phones.)
New York Stock Exchange members
shout out opening bids and offers,
acting on behalf of institutions and
individual investors.
Acting on behalf of
institutions and individual
investors, New York Stock
Exchange members shout
out opening bids and
offers.
(Members of the New York
Stock Exchange--rather than
opening bids and offers-- act
on behalf of institutions and
investors.
© 1997, 2000 The Write Place