Important Mistakes to Look Out For

1. The DANGLING PARTICIPLE

1. The Dangling Participle

• Reading a book, my cat crawled into my lap.• Baking in the oven, John waited for the pizza.• Doing the dishes, the mouse ran across the floor.• Oozing slowly across the floor, Marvin watched the salad dressing.• Coming out of the market, the bananas fell on the pavement.• After drinking too much, the toilet kept moving.• Freshly painted, Jim left the room to dry.

2. The MISPLACED MODIFIER

2. Misplaced modifiers

• The woman walked the dog in purple suede cowboy boots.• Dan planned his revenge racing up the steps.• Maxwell paced from the front door to the kitchen worried about his

sister.• I found my missing baseball glove cleaning my room.• Oswald and Hilda found the flowers hiking up the mountain.• I saw an accident walking down the street.• I saw the dead dog driving down the interstate

3. WRONG TIMING or PLACEMENT

3. Wrong Timing or PLACEMENT• Running down the street, Billy raced inside the grocery store.• Frances, kicking her attacker, whirled around and ran for safety.• Knocking on the door, Wendy went inside her apartment.• Scorched by the sun, Jim-Bob stayed indoors.

• The young girl was walking the dog in a short skirt.• We saw several monkeys on vacation in Mexico.• I glimpsed a rat sorting the recyclable materials.• We saw several blue jays looking out our front window.• The patient was referred to a psychologist with several emotional

problems