March 17th, 2010 
shylock What is a Dangling Modifier?
Dangling modifier is a word or a phrase that modifies the clause inappropriately. A writer may intend to modify the subject, but grammar rules seemingly modify the object instead. Confusing? Maybe some examples would help you to appreciate the problem associated with Dangling Modifiers.
Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on.
Here ‘the TV’ is not the subject of main clause (finished the assigned). “Having finished” is a clause expressing action but there are no subjects claiming this action. In this example, the TV cant doesn’t qualify to be subject because TV sets can’t complete assignments.
Having finished the assignment, John turned on the TV.
In this case, we could actually work out the central idea. But the catch is readers shouldn’t be working out the meaning. They should appreciate the writing as it is. In short, dangling modifiers lead to difficulty in understanding and some unintentional humour.
Golden Rules
If at any point of time you draw a chuckle, due to how you have said it rather than what you have said, then it has unfavourable outcomes. Few careful steps would go a long way in avoiding such mishaps.
Step1: Underline all the modifiers in your sentences.
Step2: Match all the nouns following your dangling modifiers.
Step3: Ensure that your modifier and noun goes together logically. If not, you have a dangling modifier! Name an appropriate doer of the action as the subject of the clause.
Step4: Rewrite the sentence.
Remove Dangling Modifiers
“Being asleep, the telephone startled me when it rang.”
Now, we would apply the above rules in this sentence and check for dangling modifiers.
Step1: Being asleep, the telephone startled me when it rang
Step2: Being asleep, the telephone startled me when it rang
Step3: The telephone can’t go to sleep. So we have a dangling modifier here. Here we have to introduce the doer of the action. Let us introduce the doer as “I”. Now “I” is the subject of the main clause.
Step4: “Being asleep, I was startled when the telephone rang.”
Sometimes, combing the main clause and the dangling phrase helps in resolving the conflict.
The experiment was a failure, not having studied the lab manual carefully.
As it is, the sentence would mean that the experiment failed because the experiment didn’t read the lab manual. This is illogical.
Applying the above rules, we observe that we need to introduce a noun.
They failed the experiment, not having studied the lab manual carefully.
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