Professional editor's corner dangling and misplaced modifiers

1
Professional Editor's Corner Dangling and
Misplaced Modifiers
https//polishedpaper.com/
2

• Dangling and Misplaced Modifiers
• What is a modifier and why should I care if it
  dangles? Is it like a muffler? Likewise, how can
  I misplace one? Are modifiers small enough to
  drop or camouflage?
• Not quite.
• A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that
  provides detail about some other element in a
  sentence.
• Readers expect modifiers to sit immediately
  before OR after whatever they are describing. If
  they do not, we call them dangling or misplaced
  because they cause confusion.
• Lets start with a good use of a modifier.
• Example Running to hail a passing cab, I dropped
  my briefcase in a puddle.
• Running to hail a passing cab modifies or gives
  more information about I. Perfect.

3

• We have to be careful not to write the same
  sentence this way Running to hail a passing cab,
  my briefcase fell in a puddle.
• In this case, running to hail a passing cab
  would modify my briefcase, suggesting that the
  briefcase can run, which, of course, it cant.
  This is an example of a dangling modifier.
• Now lets look at a famous example of a misplaced
  modifier uttered by Groucho Marx (as Captain
  Spaulding in the film Animal Crackers, 1930)
  One morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas.
  How he got in my pajamas, I dont know.
• Logically, we must conclude that Captain
  Spaulding was in his pajamas when he shot the
  elephant because elephants dont wear pajamas at
  all, let alone sneak into peoples houses and
  steal and then put on those peoples pajamas.
  However, grammatically speaking, that is exactly
  what the sentence suggests because the phrase in
  my pajamas is sitting closest to elephant, not
  I.

4

• Lets look at some more examples.
• Participles are particularly susceptible to being
  dangled.
• Remember, participles are ing or ed words
  preceding nouns, often at the beginning of a
  sentence (see previous blog entry).
• Example Married at sixteen, divorce seemed
  inevitable for my parents.
• The writer is suggesting that divorce was
  married at sixteen, which cannot be true.
• Revision Married at sixteen, my parents saw
  divorce as inevitable.
• Example
• Having laid a golden egg, the farmer proudly
  displayed his prize goose.

5
Here, the writer suggests that the farmer was
the one who laid a golden egg, but that cannot
be true. Hes not even female, let alone
poultry. Revision The farmer proudly presented
his prize goose, which had laid a golden
egg. Certain adverbs are more susceptible to
being misplaced almost, even, hardly, just,
merely, often, only, and simply. ONLY Example
Lasers only slice through tumors. They dont harm
the surrounding brain tissue. Here the writer
wants to make a distinction between what lasers
destroy (tumors or healthy brain tissue) during
surgery, but he or she is actually implying that
ALL lasers can do is slice through tumors, which,
of course, we know is untrue. Lasers have
countless uses.
6
Revision Lasers slice through only tumors.
They dont harm the surrounding brain tissue. We
can even add a context, placing during surgery
at the beginning of the sentence, but where we
put only is most important. ALMOST Example
Sheila almost ran around the track twelve
times. The writer here suggests that Sheila ran
part way around the track twelve times perhaps
she made it halfway, stopped for lunch, tried
again and made it three-quarters of the way, and
so on attempting to get around the track twelve
times without ever actually making one full
loop. However, what the writer probably meant
was that Sheila made it all the way around the
track eleven times and then part way on the
twelfth go round.
7

• Revision Sheila ran around the track almost
  twelve times.
• Prepositional phrases are particularly
  susceptible to being misplaced.
• Example The dog was following a girl in the
  spiked collar.
• Unless this girl is a punk rocker, shes unlikely
  to be the one wearing the collar. What is more
  likely is that the dog is wearing the collar.
• Revision The dog in the spiked collar was
  following a girl.
• There you have it. The nuts and bolts of dangling
  and misplaced modifiers. Write carefully.

8
Contact us

• Polished Paper LLC, 1923 Bragg St. 140-2376
• USA (United State of America)
• Sanford
• North Carolina
• 27330
• Phone number 1-855-974-4102
• Email-info_at_polishedpaper.com
• https//www.facebook.com/PolishedPaper
• https//twitter.com/PolishedPaper
• https//plus.google.com/PolishedpaperLLC
• https//www.linkedin.com/company/polished-paper-ll
  c