You can wear dangling earrings with a strapless dress, lead a horse to water with a dangling carrot and tap your toes to Paul Simon's The Dangling Conversation. But what can you do with dangling modifiers? Avoid them! Even the best writers may—unintentionally—slip the occasional dangler into their writing. Let's take a closer look at this pet peeve of many grammarians.

What is a dangling modifier?

A modifier is a word or word group that adds information to another word in a sentence:

• After feeding the chickens, Jade groomed the horses.
• [After feeding the chickens is a modifier because it adds information to the word Jade.]

A dangling modifier is a modifier without the right word to modify. Usually, a dangling modifier appears at the beginning of the sentence and should modify the subject—but the right subject just isn't there. Because the modifier has nothing to attach to logically, it is left dangling:

• After feeding the chickens, the horses were groomed.
• [Horses can't be feeding chickens, so the modifier After feeding the chickens is dangling.]

Types of dangling modifiers

Several kinds of words and word groups can dangle. Here are some examples:

-ing words and phrases:

Dangling: Having failed math a second time, a tutor was her only option.
[It is highly unlikely that the tutor failed math.]

Correct: Having failed math a second time, she decided to see a tutor.

-ed words and phrases:

Dangling: Dented and cracked, the driver looked glumly at the rear bumper.
[The driver is probably not dented and cracked.]

Correct: Dented and cracked, the rear bumper was a sorry sight.

Infinitives (to + verb):

Dangling: To brew a good cup of tea, fresh water is needed.
[Water can't brew tea.]

Dangling modifiers often result from use of the passive voice. To correct this sentence, change from passive to active voice:

Correct: To brew a good cup of tea, you need fresh water.

Prepositional phrases:

Dangling: Like a needle in a haystack, it is hard to find a soulmate.
["It" can't be like a needle in a haystack.]

Correct: Like a needle in a haystack, a soulmate is hard to find.

Tips

In the above examples, the dangling modifiers describe the wrong word. While dangling modifiers can be funny, you must avoid them if you want to write clearly. Here are a few tips to help you spot and correct them:

• Pay close attention to the beginning of sentences.
• Modifiers like the above must modify the subject, so check for a logical connection between the modifier and the subject.
• Use the active voice whenever possible.

Try our quiz at Recognizing Dangling Modifiers.