Section 19 DANGLING MODIFIERS

 What they are…  Unpleasant things that don’t belong  But, in grammatical language they are phrases or elliptical clauses that don’t sensibly modify any other words in the sentence  Avoid dangling modifiers like the plague  Also, try to avoid hackneyed clichés…don’t follow my bad examples  Remember, avoid here doesn’t mean don’t do (at least, not necessarily), it means if it’s there then fix it  But, when you write just don’t do it DANGLING MODIFIERS

 Avoid a dangling participial phrase  What do participial phrases do?  Yes, that’s right. They function as adjectives and modify nouns (most likely subjects of a sentence)  Sometimes a dangling phrase at the beginning of a sentence is simply misplaced  To fix that you move the phrase to a position after the word it modifies  However, most dangling phrases require you to reword the independent clause  Example:  Flying over the city, the skyscrapers could be clearly seen.  What is the dangling modifier? How do you fix it?  Flying over the city, we could clearly see the skyscrapers. DANGLING MODIFIERS

 Avoid a dangling gerund phrase  Same rules as the previous slide apply  (There are a lot of do not's in this presentation huh?)  For example:  By using a good carnauba wax, your car will really shine.  Where is your gerund phrase?  What is it functioning as?  Why is it a dangling modifier?  How would you fix it?  By using a good carnauba wax, you can make your car really shine.  Good, now you have a person using the wax DANGLING MODIFIERS

 Avoid a dangling infinitive phrase  For example:  To run a four-minute mile, excellent condition is required.  What’s wrong with this sentence?  To run a four-minute mile, one must be in excellent condition.  Now you have a person doing the running DANGLING MODIFIERS

 Avoid a dangling elliptical clause  Since I know no one knows what an elliptical clause is, I’ll just tell you.  It’s an adverb clause in which the subject is understood  So, dangling elliptical clauses can happen when the understood subject of the elliptical clause is not the same as that of the independent clause  For example:  When one month old, my grandmother died.  What is the sentence really trying to say?  When I was one month old, my grandmother died.  Good, now the subjects are the same  While emptying the trash at the campground, a large possum startled me.  What wrong with this?  While emptying the trash at the campground, I was startled by a large possum.  Now subjects agree DANGLING MODIFIERS