Tag: books

All right, let’s get this out of the way first; what even IS a dangling modifier?!

A dangling modifier happens when you use a modifier—something that changes (or modifies) a word or phrase—on a word/phrase that’s not clear in the sentence.

Here is an example of a CORRECT, non-dangling modifier:

Bending down, I picked up the old book. [GOOD]

Who is bending down? “I” bent down, right? Let’s check the last part of the sentence—and that’s correct, “I” is the subject of the sentence, so the sentence is in agreement with itself.

Here is an example of an INCORRECT, dangling modifier:

Bending down, the old book I grabbed was dusty. [NOT GOOD]

Who bent down? “I”, right? What’s the subject of this sentence, though? Uh oh—it’s “the old book.” Did the old book bend down? No! Your modifier’s dangling!!

Here’s another non-example:

Glancing around the room, the candles threw shadows on the wall. [NOT GOOD]

Super descriptive sentence, but let’s break it down. Who “glanced around the room”? Was it the candles? No! It was the narrator. But in this sentence, “the candles” are the subject. Uh oh!

How can we fix it? Here are a couple ways that we can rewrite the sentence to fix the dangling modifier:

As I glanced around the room, the candles threw shadows on the wall.

Glancing around the room, I noticed candles throwing shadows on the wall.

I glanced around the room. Candles threw shadows on the walls.

Just make sure that the beginning phrase in the sentence (the stuff before the comma) agrees with the actual subject of the sentence (which typically comes right after the comma!). Ask yourself, WHO is doing [insert verb from the beginning of the sentence]? You’ve got to answer that right after the comma as your subject of the sentence.

A couple more examples and non-examples for you:

Giggling over the joke, I ran from the room. [GOOD]

Giggling over the joke, my high heels clacked against the floor as I ran from the room. [NOT GOOD]

Whoa, so close! But “my high heels” is actually the subject of this sentence, so it’s got a dangling modifier.

Sweeping the floor, I found a broken locket under the bed. [GOOD]

Sweeping the floor, a broken locket lay under the bed. [NOT GOOD]

Good luck hunting down those tricky sentence edits. And always remember—don’t let your modifier dangle!!