When your editor points out a dangling modifier, but you don't know what that means.
I recently came across a dangling modifier in one of my own books that I'm editing. I had read this particular sentence several times before noticing the error. Often this grammatical error is hard to spot in our own writing because we know what we meant. But as an editor, they are much easier to spot. Fortunately, we aren't mind readers.
So, let's dive into what constitutes a dangling modifier. A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies the wrong thing because the intended subject is missing in the sentence. Or the modifier is too far away from what it's meant to modify. I'll give you an example of both.
Example 1: Walking home from the park, the sun was shining.
The modifier is "Walking home from the park." However, the sun (subject) wasn't walking home, therefore the intended subject is missing.
Correction: Walking home from the park, the woman enjoyed the warm sun.
Example 2: She told the man to wash his dishes and take out the trash thoroughly.
The modifier is "thoroughly." However, it is unclear what is being modified. Is it modifying washing his dishes, taking out the trash, or had she thoroughly told the man? In this case, the modifier is too far away from what it's modifying.
Correction: She told the man to thoroughly wash his dishes and take out the trash.
Example 3: Writing the book, the typewriter broke on me.
The modifier is "Writing the book." However, this sentence sounds like the typewriter is writing the book. Sometimes the easiest fix is to add "while" at the beginning of the sentence and make sure that the intended subject is being modified. In this case, the intended subject is "me."
Correction: While writing the book, my typewriter broke.
I hope you found value in this short lesson and now have a deeper understanding of dangling modifiers.
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