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Professional Editor's Corner: Dangling and Misplaced
Modifiers
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Dangling and Misplaced ModifiersWhat 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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