Mechanics: Dangling or Misplaced Modifiers

Dangling Modifiers

Dangling modifiers happen when participles, infinitives and gerunds don't hook up with the sentence's subjects. Their effects are often quite funny.

Walking down the street, a sign in the window caught my eye.

To comply with the draft law and avoid being arrested, Paul's mother persuaded him to register.

Stripped to the skin and standing by the window, the painter made a portrait of the shivering model.

As I walked down the street, I noticed a catchy sign. ("A sign caught my eye" makes a slightly surreal effect.)

Paul's mother persuaded him to register so that he would obey the draft law and avoid arrest.

The painter portrayed the shivering model stripped to the skin and standing by the window.

Misplaced Modifiers Examples

As a lover of the land, James Watt must go. (Senator Alan Cranston)

We cannot expect a newspaper on delicate subjects to print stories unfit for a family audience.

If you look around you can find plenty of examples in history books of paranoia, greed, and corruption.

Is James Watt the lover of the land, or is Cranston?

A newspaper devoted to delicate subjects?

History books of paranoia?

The same principle applies here as above: erase or reconstruct.

   Sentence Fragments
   Comma Splices
   Run-on Sentences
   Dangling or Misplaced Modifiers
   Subject-Verb Agreement
   Split Infinitives
   Which, That, It, and Of
   Semi-colons and Colons
   Apostrophes
   His and Her