Dangling Modifier Examples: How to Spot and Fix Common Errors

Introduction

Even during their earliest experiences as writers, students will aim to be as clear as possible so that their ideas can be understood by readers. They do this with the help of their teachers, tutors, and whoever else supports their learning.

The practice of editing and revising must be both consistent and deliberate. Without spending enough time planning, writing, outlining, editing, and revising, a writer’s written expression can become very confusing. Words can go missing and sometimes ideas can be disorganized, leading the reader (or teacher) to struggle to understand the writer’s thoughts.

For upper level writers, dangling modifiers can pop up when students write quickly, do not revise their work, or organize their sentences in a way that leaves a noun or subject out of the sentence entirely.

This can lead the reader to ask a few questions:

  • What is the writer describing?
  • What does that part of the sentence refer to?
  • Is what the writer described what they intended to share?

These ‘headscratchers’ tell us that dangling modifiers are creating confusion for the reader. Luckily, fixing dangling modifiers is simple, but it does require patience and practice.

Definition

A dangling modifier leaves the reader of the sentence perplexed and wondering. For example, details and information may be missing, leading to a lack of clarity and therefore creating a feeling of “dangling” for the reader. Editing and revising one’s writing is an important part of the writing process.

Dangling modifiers happen when a writer mistakenly uses a modifier (a word or phrase that provides additional information about another word in a sentence) that describes something that has not been included in the sentence.

Examples

Let’s explore what a dangling modifier looks and sounds like.

You’ll notice that something is “off” or missing in the dangling modifier example sentences. This is your cue to identify what could be added to the sentence to return clarity to the ideas that have been expressed.

Here are some example sentences that contain dangling modifiers. All of these need to be revised by including a subject directly after the modifier. Let’s take a look!

  1. After finishing homework, the game started on the lawn.
    Here, it sounds like the notebook is eating the school snack. To revise this sentence, the following could be suitable: “As I was eating the school snack, my notebook slipped out of my backpack.” This adds a subject, “I” and “my” to signify who is completing the action and who the action is happening to.
  2. Sharpening the pencil, the class pet looked out from its cage at the busy students.
    Oops! Something isn’t quite right. It sounds like the class pet is sharpening its pencil. Instead, this sentence could be revised as. “Sharpening the pencil, Stacey noticed the class pet looking out from its cage.” This clarifies that the subject, Stacey, is sharpening her pencil.
  3. Playing volleyball in gym class, the ceiling fans cooled things down quickly.
    Hmmm?! In this sentence, it sounds like the ceiling fans are playing volleyball in gym class. To correct this sentence, it could be rewritten as follows: “Playing volleyball in gym class, the students were quickly cooled down by the ceiling fans.”
  4. While packing the school bag, the dog patiently held his frisbee.
    This sentence needs revision. In this sentence, it sounds like the dog is packing a school bag. Instead, we can revise this sentence to have greater clarity. For instance, “While packing the school bag, the mother noticed the dog patiently holding his frisbee.”
  5. On their way to school, leaves blew in the autumn wind.
    Something’s unclear. In this sentence, it sounds like the leaves are on their way to school. To correct this sentence, we can add a subject to clarify who is on their way to school. For instance, “On their way to school, the kids noticed the leaves blow in the autumn wind.”
  6. Hunting a mouse in the forest, the sound of a bear was heard in the distance. Not quite. In this sentence, it’s not clear who or what is hunting the mouse. To correct this sentence, we can write it as, “Hunting a mouse in the forest, the fox heard the sound of a bear in the distance.
  7. Noticing the orange and red leaves, the drain was clogged with what had fallen to the ground.
    This needs revising. It sounds like the drain is noticing the red and orange leaves. To fix this sentence and give it a subject, it could be rewritten as, “Noticing the orange and red leaves, the construction worker saw that the drain was clogged with what had fallen to the ground.”
  8. Walking on the trail, the moon appeared in the night sky.
    Hmmm. In this sentence, the moon sounds like it’s walking on the trail. To fix this sentence, we could revise it as, “Walking on the trail, the teenager saw the moon appear in the night sky.” This clarifies who is walking and who notices the moon!
  9. Collecting acorns in the yard, the sun glowed on the front of the house.
    This sentence needs clarity. It sounds as though the sun is collecting acorns in the yard. For example, we could edit this sentence this way: “Collecting acorns in the yard, the child saw the sun glow on the front of the house.”

As you can see, these sentences do not communicate what’s intended. Something is missing and therefore the modifier is “dangling” because a subject is not yet identified.

Conclusion

In order to fix a sentence that contains a dangling modifier, add a subject or focus of the sentence. As in the above sentences, the revision requires the addition and movement of a few words to make the sentence clearer:

For example, a sentence might read:

After finishing homework, the game started on the lawn.”

It could be revised as:

After finishing homework, we started playing the game on the lawn.”

This adds the subject “we” to the sentence because “we” have finished our homework and are now playing a game.

Revising a sentence that contains a dangling modifier is important. It’s important to note that revising your own writing always takes time, consideration, and a bit of trial and error.

When you’re revising your own writing, you will likely know what the subject is that’s missing from the sentence. When revising sentences that you did not originally write, you may need to rearrange the sentence or determine a reasonable subject to include in order to bring clarity to the sentence itself.

Learning to edit sentences that contain dangling modifiers is an important part of growing your skills as a writer.