How dangling modifiers happen
An opening phrase without its own subject borrows the subject of the main clause. In "Having finished the essay, the computer crashed", the reader links having finished to the computer, which makes no sense.
The phrases most likely to dangle start with an -ing form ("Looking out of the window"), a past participle ("Built in 1850"), an infinitive ("To get a visa") or a preposition plus -ing ("After eating lunch").
Two ways to fix them
Find who or what really does the action, then put it in one of two places.
| Dangling | Fix 1: change the subject | Fix 2: make it a clause |
|---|---|---|
| After eating lunch, the bus arrived. | After eating lunch, we caught the bus. | After we had eaten lunch, the bus arrived. |
| To get a visa, a form must be completed. | To get a visa, you must complete a form. | If you want a visa, a form must be completed. |
| As a child, my grandfather taught me chess. | As a child, I learnt chess from my grandfather. | When I was a child, my grandfather taught me chess. |
Misplaced modifiers
A misplaced modifier describes a word that is in the sentence, but sits too far from it. "She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates" is clearer as "She served the children sandwiches on paper plates."
Single words such as only and almost can also be misplaced. "I only ate two" and "I ate only two" are both common in speech, but in careful writing, put only next to the word it limits.
Common mistakes
Wrong: Being a student, the library card was free.
Right: Being a student, I got a free library card.
The library card wasn't a student. Make I the subject.
Wrong: Having seen the results, a decision was made.
Right: Having seen the results, the board made a decision.
The passive hides who saw the results. Name the doer.
Wrong: Looking at the graph, sales rose sharply.
Right: The graph shows that sales rose sharply.
Sales can't look at a graph. Rewrite without the phrase.
Using this in IELTS and PTE
"Looking at the graph, it can be seen that..." is a very common opening in IELTS Task 1, and it dangles, because it isn't looking at anything. Write "The graph shows that..." or "Overall, it is clear that..." instead. In Task 2 and PTE Write Essay, check every sentence that opens with an -ing or -ed phrase.
5 questions
Exercise
Try each one, then open it to check your answer.
1. Dangling or correct? "Tired after work, she fell asleep on the sofa."
Correct.
She is the one who was tired.
2. Fix this: "Running for the train, my bag fell open."
As I was running for the train, my bag fell open.
The bag wasn't running. A full clause names the person who was.
3. Fix this: "To improve your score, practice is essential."
To improve your score, you need to practise.
The person improving is you, so you should be the subject.
4. Dangling or correct? "Built in 1902, the bridge needs repairs."
Correct.
The bridge was built in 1902.
5. Move the modifier: "He nearly drove the car for six hours."
He drove the car for nearly six hours.
Nearly should describe six hours, not drove.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a dangling modifier and a misplaced modifier?+
A dangling modifier has nothing correct to describe in the sentence. A misplaced modifier has the right word in the sentence, but sits too far from it.
Is "Considering the cost, the plan is good" dangling?+
No. A few -ing words such as considering, given, assuming and generally speaking work as fixed linking phrases and are accepted without a matching subject.
Do dangling modifiers make a sentence ungrammatical?+
Many grammars treat them as errors of clarity rather than form. In exam writing, they still read as mistakes, so fix them.
Keep going
More grammar lessons
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