A dangling modifier is a word or a phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. A modifier describes clarifies, or gives more details about the subject.
When you have a sentence that starts with a gerund, past participle, or a preposition, you have to check after the comma if the doer of the action is stated. If not then the sentence contains an error.
Examples:
- Writing carefully, the essay was finished in time to hand in.
This sentence contains an error. The error is in "the essay". You can detect the error by checking out the word the sentence starts with, this sentence starts with a gerund which is "writing". The next step is to check the word after the comma. In that sentence the word after the comma is "the essay". The essay is obviously not the doer of the action. You have to ask yourself, who wrote the essay?
So, the correct structure of this sentence is "Writing carefully, I finished the essay in time to hand in."
- At the age of four, my grandmother taught me to knit.
This sentence contains an error. The sentence starts with "At" which is a preposition. The phrase after the comma is "my grandmother". Your grandmother wasn't the one that was four when she taught you.
The correct structure is "At the age of four, I was taught to knit by my grandmother."
- Crowded in the car, the trip was uncomfortable.
This sentence contains an error. "Crowded" is a past participle. "The trip" isn't the one that felt crowded, you are.
The correct structure is "Crowded in the car, I found the trip uncomfortable."
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