Misplaced modifiers describe a word or phrase that is in the sentence, but in the wrong place. replace a single adjective by describing what that single adjective would communicate. the tears hit the waves and attracted Marina, a beautiful mermaid. Because of the separation, sentences with this error often sound awkward, ridiculous, or confusing. Chewing furiously, the gum fell out of my mouth. Of course, the writer is referring to the helmet, not to the persons head. Fowlers dictionary of modern English usage(4th ed.). She seems logically to be the one doing the action ("having finished"), and this sentence therefore does not have a dangling modifier. See how creative and humorous you can get by writing ten sentences with misplaced and dangling modifiers. For example, if you say purple womens shoes, it sounds like the women are purple, not the shoes. Shop tail flopped against the wood, which was long, scaly, and metallic blue, While swimming the mile back to shore as A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail about a concept. Here are a few examples of misplaced modifiers: In the first sentence, who is Pumpkin? When this happens, things can get very confusing! Ideally, modifiers appear next to the word or phrase they describe, either directly before or after it. Female Salvation Army officers in the nineteenth century were expected to raise funds by preaching to crowds in attractive dresses. Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com How do you describe how an action is being performed? No! This sentence says that the experiment was trying to improve its own results. We quietly glued together the vase we broke. In fact, theyre so common that we included them in our list of ten grammatical errors that make you look bad. How to pronounce passage: pas-ij. Which of the following sentences contains a dangling modifier? Purdue OWL is a registered trademark. 1. In both cases, you can fix the problem by placing the modifier next to the word or phrase it describes. Arriving early to class, Leslie had time to finish her homework. In the corrected sentence, the dangling modifier is replaced with a complete clause that clearly states the subject who is doing the action. A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes, defines, or qualifies something else in a sentence. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. This kind of modifier is unclear because its placed in a way that makes it just as applicable to the word before it as it is to the word following it. Purdue OWL is a registered trademark. Terms Exercises Chapter 7: Refining Your Writing: How Do I Improve My Writing Technique? REVISED: After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing. Is it the sister or the car? The term verbal indicates that a participle, like the other two kinds of verbals, is based on a verb and therefore expresses action or a state of being. By employing verbalswords derived from a verbalong with other grammatical elements, an author can craft clauses that function as an adjective, modifying nouns and pronouns. All rights reserved. These, too, are generally either adverbial or adjectival and can look like: Typically, modifiers are placed right beside the. The good news is that these errors can be easily overcome. Choisis la preposition et l'article ou la contraction qui convient pour completer chaque phrase. This is similar to how adjective phrases are phrases that function as adjectives, noun phrases are phrases that function as nouns, and other grammatical phrases function as specific parts of speech. When there is nothing that the word, phrase, or clause can modify, the modifier is said to dangle. In the incorrect sentence, it seems that the brothers name is. A dangling modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes something that has been left out of the sentence. C) Several students walk home together in the evening. Playing a guitar in the bedroom, the cat was seen under the bed. and cried. 3) I suggest that if people want to do well, he should try studying, too. And like adjectival phrases, adverbial phrases are often used by writers to make descriptions more vivid: Writers also modify sentences with adverbial clauses like: Prepositional phrases can also be used as modifiers. The young lady was walking the dog on the telephone. Which sentence contains a dangling modifier? In this correctly composed sentence, the reader knows that the team captain arrived late and needs a written excuse. Copyright 1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. To fix a misplaced modifier in your writing, you simply have to rearrange the words in a sentence. In English sentences, the doer must be the subject of the main clause that follows. A participial phrase is set off with commas when it: b) interrupts a sentence as a nonessential element. Relationships Psychology- PAST PAPER Q&As, The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric, Lawrence Scanlon, Renee H. Shea, Robin Dissin Aufses. Arriving late for the movie, Jack quietly took a seat. Which of the following sentences contains a dangling modifier? Sinking under the waves, Tommys legs finally January 17, 2020 Exchange papers with a classmate, and rewrite your classmates sentences to correct any misplaced modifiers. A participle is a verbal ending in -ing (present) or -ed, -en, -d, -t, -n, or -ne (past) that functions as an adjective, modifying a noun or pronoun. Many readers objected to the newspaper's picture of a young man posed beside a dead whale wearing running shoes and holding a gun. In a correct sentence, the subject (or doer) that is modified should immediately follow the comma after the modifier. This sentence says that "it" didn't know his name. See this page on varying sentence structure for more information. The corrected version of the sentence clarifies the writers meaning. Mr. Fernandez is teaching us about great world leaders. As we mentioned above, modifiers can be single words, phrases, or clauses. Correct: As Jonas was walking home at night, the trees looked like spooky aliens. Home The modifier "vegetarian" gives extra information about what kind of burger it is. Contributors: Chris Berry, Karl Stolley A dangling modifier is a type of misplaced modifier. After being thoroughly cooked, we enjoyed a delicious lobster dinner. Example The example above suggests that a gold manowns a watch. 4) In my opinion, scoring well on it is all about how you prepare. Like the name suggests, dangling modifiers are also incorrectly used modifiers. A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is separated from the word it describes, creating confusion and ambiguity. A dangling modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies an element that is missing from a sentence. Some of the sentences contain a misplaced or dangling modifier. Participles and participial phrases must be placed as close to the nouns or pronouns they modify as possible, and those nouns or pronouns must be clearly stated. Ideally, modifiers appear next to the word or phrase they describe, either directly before or after it. You guessed itwith modifiers. Generate accurate APA, MLA, and Chicago citations for free with Scribbr's Citation Generator. Here, the phrase "in the library" gives us extra information about the verb, "studied, The modifier, "using astronavigation," is unclear in this sentence. Incorrect: The patient was referred to the physician with stomach pains. Crawling across the floor, the baby knocked over the blocks. a. du b. la c. de la 2. (Painting is the -ing modifier.). 2. Have a human editor polish your writing to ensure your arguments are judged on merit, not grammar errors. interested (in) (participle) My uncle with indigestion had to see a doctor. The main difference between misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers is whether the word theyre supposed to describe is in the sentence. Incorrect: Riding in the sports car, the world whizzed by. Repaired: Tyler found almost fifty cents under the sofa cushions. is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb. Misplaced and dangling modifiers distract the reader. Or was the civilization he discovered using astronavigation?". Mei napped with her cat, tired after a long day at work. For one thing, they make the meaning of a sentence unclear and hinder communication. Furthermore, they can be downright illogical. Assessing his set as clumsy and inelegant, not a single compliment was received Writing for Success by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. | Examples & How to Eliminate. out of the ocean as sleek as a seal, Tommy gasped at the sight. "Having finished" states an action but does not name the doer of that action. Clearer ways of writing these sentences are: Dangling modifiers arent the only type of misplaced modifier. by October 20, 2022. This sentence says that the written excuse arrived late. dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. Correct: The patient with stomach pains was referred to the physician. Take a look at these examples: With these sentences, moving the modifier around fixes any clarity challenges: As we mentioned above, modifiers can be single words, phrases, or clauses. B) The school bus has a morning and afternoon route. c) comes at the end of a sentence and is separated from the word it modifies. Name the appropriate or logical doer of the action as the subject of the main clause: Who arrived late? For a quick refresher on how to fit these components together to build sentences, read our post on sentence structure. Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct? After completing the job, Jill turned on the television. See answers Advertisement WorldlyGlass49 Choose the word that is not related in meaning to the other words. The . Correct: They bought a kitten they call Shadow for my brother. A participial phrase or clause is a wonderful tool for writers because it gives color and action to a sentence. early (adverb), The participial phrase functions as an adjective modifying Lynn. D) While waiting for the bus, Egypt ate her breakfast. What the writer means is that the patient has stomach pains. After Tommy bemoaned his ineptitude on a surfboard, Marina a. d' b. la c. del'. The word "address" in the passage, in both instances, is meant to express some way that a style of writing might relate to its contemporary world. After identifying the error (if there is one), fix the sentence. Oxford University Press. Chapter 8: The Writing Process: How Do I Begin? Here are a few examples: You might be able to guess what these sentences are communicating, but they feel awkward and choppy. Having been (participle) | Examples & How to Eliminate, Because John had injured his dominant hand, a car accident caused a traffic jam on the highway, Because we required more data for the study, questionnaires were collected from an additional 200 people, the darkness obscured the details of the room.