What is a Dangling Modifier?

What is a Modifier—and How Can it Dangle?

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that changes (or modifies) the meaning of another word, phrase, or clause. A dangling modifier is a modifier that is attached to the wrong subject or doesn’t have a subject to modify at all.

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Common Causes of Dangling Modifiers

While there’s more than one way to make a modifier dangle, there are two typical reasons you may find yourself with modifiers that need to be modified: the modifier’s too far away or the modifier isn’t modifying anything.

Distant Modifiers

If a modifier is too far away from that which it modifies, confusion abounds and clarity suffers:
Elaine was upset that Jake wrote down the message without exclamation points with stubborn insistence.

Do the exclamation points have stubborn insistence, or does Jake? Because “with stubborn insistence” is so far away from Jake—the one stubbornly insisting on not using exclamation points—the sentence lacks clarity.

Modifiers Without Subjects

Sometimes sentences are created in which a subject is implied or forgotten, leaving a modifier dangling:

Trying to sleep, the red light was inescapable.

Who was trying to sleep? Who was trying to escape the red light? Without a subject in the sentence, we don’t know.

Types of Dangling Modifiers

If it’s a modifier, it can dangle. There are some common dangling modifiers, though, to look out for in your writing.

Dangling Elliptical Clause

An elliptical clause is a clause that’s missing words—as though someone inserted an ellipsis into it—but retains it’s meaning to the reader. An elliptical clause usually starts with a subordinating conjunction—“though,” “when,” “while,” for example. But if an elliptical clause doesn’t clearly modify a subject or has no subject to modify, it dangles:

When dipping a chip, be careful not to double dip.

Who is dipping the chip? Who should be careful not to double dip? The dangling elliptical clause is tricky, because there may be less confusion than other instances of dangling modifiers, which may also make them harder to root out and correct.

Dangling Gerund Phrase

A gerund is a noun based on a verb that ends in -ing. A gerund phrase is a gerund plus other words that together become a noun. (Tip: If what you think is a gerund phrase can be replaced with a single-word noun in a sentence, you can be sure that’s what you’ve got.) Here’s what it looks like when a gerund phrase dangles:

By double-dipping a chip, George’s fellow guests were disgusted.

Much to George’s chagrin, the other party guests in the sentence are not who double-dipped the chip. But because George comes first as the subject, the gerund phrase has modified the wrong subject.

Dangling Infinitive Phrase

An infinitive is “to” plus a verb—“to go,” “to know,” “to see,”—and can be a noun, adjective, or adverb. While there can be instances of an infinitive’s “to” being implied rather than appearing, for our purposes let’s focus only on infinitives that include their “to.”

To double-dip, a separate serving of dip is appropriate.

Who is double-dipping the chip? Who needs a separate serving of dip? There’s no subject here, so the infinitive “to double-dip” is dangling.

Dangling Participle Phrase

Not all words that end in –ing are gerunds. If a word is based on a verb, ends in –ing (for present tense), and describes a state of being, it’s a participle and not a gerund.

Smirking while crunching, the guests watched disgusted while George double dipped.

George is the one “smirking and crunching,” not his fellow guests. But because the guests appear first in the sentence, it could be thought that they’re the ones doing these actions.

How to Solve for a Dangling Modifier

Fixing dangling modifiers isn’t difficult. When you know the cause of the dangling modifier, and, ideally, the kind of dangling modifier you’re dealing with, you can set about correcting them quickly. You can also take advantage of technology. Microsoft Editor is there to help you when you’re composing right in Word but can also step in to check for dangling modifiers (and more) across a range of apps.