DANGLING MODIFIERS

1. Identify whether the following sentences are correct or not. For the latter case, explain what the

mistake consists in and re-write the sentence starting with the subjectless participial clause (like

in the original version).

2. Expand each sentence (in its correct(ed) form) so as to eliminate the participial clause.

Remember that the implied subject of the subjectless participial clause is co-referential with the subject

of the main clause.

Example

“ ’Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, a serpent stung me.”

(Shakespeare, Hamlet: the ghost of Hamlet’s father)

TEST: Ask WHO/WHAT does the action in the participial clause?

INCORRECT original sentence: the implied subject of the participial clause (“sleeping in mine

orchard”) is not co-referential with the subject (“a serpent”) of the main clause (“a serpent stung

me”).

CORRECTED VERSION: ’Tis given out that, sleeping in mine orchard, I was stung by a serpent.

EXPANDED FORM: ’Tis given out that, while I was sleeping in my orchard, I was stung by a serpent.

3. Pay attention to the participle form used in the subjectless clause, because it signals the order of

the two actions. Thus:

a. To earn money, china-painting lessons were offered by Emily to wealthy young women.

TEST: WHO/WHAT did something to earn money? China-painting lessons [SB of the main

clause]. Impossible! Emily did.

ANSWER: INcorrect sentence

VB: to earn = present infinitive [suggests simultaneity]; were offered = past tense, passive

voice

Corrected version: To earn money, Emily offered china-painting lessons to wealthy young

women. [transformation of the passive voice into the active voice in the main clause]

b. Having failed once, is the fear of failure any less this time around?

TEST: WHO/WHAT has already failed? The fear of failure [SB of the main clause]. Impossible!

One/You [impersonal use].

ANSWER: INcorrect sentence

VB: having failed = past participle [suggests anteriority]; is = present tense

Corrected: Having failed once, do you/ does one fear failure any less this time around?

c. Reading Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily,” the ending surprised us.

TEST: WHO/WHAT read the short story? The ending [SB of the main clause]. Impossible! WE

did.

ANSWER: INcorrect sentence

VB: reading = present participle [suggests simultaneity]; surprised = past tense; however, the

ending surprises or doesn’t only as a function of the reader’s expectations relative to what has

already been read After reading the short story, we were surprised by the ending / We read

Faulkner’s short story... and were surprised by the ending.

Corrected: Having read Faulkner’s short story..., we were surprised by the ending.

2 | CPE 2.1 Dangling Modifiers – Assoc. prof. Estella Ciobanu

1. Having read the report, Mary was sure there had been a miscarriage of justice.

TEST: WHO/WHAT had read the report? Mary [SB of the main clause] had that’s why she was

sure...

ANSWER: correct sentence

2. Born and bred in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast was always my preferred destination to recharge

and socialise from my teenage years.

TEST: WHO/WHAT was born and bred in Brisbane? The Sunshine Coast [SB of the main clause]?

Impossible! I was born there and that’s why the Sunshine Coast has always been my preferred

destination... from my teenage years.

ANSWER: INcorrect sentence corrected: Born and bred in Brisbane, I have always preferred the

Sunshine Coast as my destination to recharge and socialise from my teenage years.

3. Jennifer Lopez stars as Marisa, a maid in a fancy New York City hotel. While trying on a wealthy

woman’s dress, a handsome and rich politician mistakes her for a society woman.

4. Being desperately poor, paper was always scarce – as was ink.

5. Opening her eyes, the baby began to cry.

6. Having said all that, however, there is little doubt in my mind that Mrs Thatcher is going to win and

thoroughly deserves to do so.

7. Meandering in at about 11:30 a.m. on a Sunday – somewhere between breakfast and brunch – the

place was packed.

8. The score being level after 90 minutes, a replay will take place.

9. Even allowing for the strong feelings on both sides, the behaviour of the demonstrators was

indefensible.

10. Faced with a bill for £10,000, John has taken an extra job.

11. Flying low, a herd of cattle could be seen.

12. Formed 25 years ago next month, the club is holding a party for past and present members.

13. Having wanted to drive a train all his life, this was an opportunity not to be missed.

14. Having been hunted close to extinction, the rhino is once again common in this area.

15. Not wanting to wake the baby, Steve left the house silently.

16. Having completed the book, a holiday was welcome.

17. Being imported, the radios were more expensive.

18. Preferring not to go out that night, I made a rather lame excuse.

19. Having been invited to the party on such warm terms, my refusal could hardly have worked.

Rewrite the sentences beginning with an -ING or past participle clause (or NOT + -ING / past

participle).

1. Marie left work early because she didn’t feel too well. Not feeling too well, Marie left work early.

2. The manager was impressed by John’s work so she extended his contract for a year.

3. He had acquired the money through hard work, so he was reluctant to give it away.

4. Because he had started the course, Alan was determined to complete it.

5. As we didn’t want to offend him, we said nothing about his paintings.

6. As I haven’t seen all the evidence, I am reluctant to make a judgement.

3 | CPE 2.1 Dangling Modifiers – Assoc. prof. Estella Ciobanu

Rewrite the sentences. Put the quoted speech first, and use an -ING clause.

1. As I grabbed Don by the arm, I exclaimed, “Look, it’s Tim’s car.” “Look, it’s Tim’s car,” I exclaimed,

grabbing Don by the arm.

2. As she pointed to the empty table, Sandra said, “It was here a moment ago.”

3. As she turned over in bed, Helen groaned, “I’ll get up in an hour or so.”

4. As Mark smiled cheerfully at them, he shouted, “Well, I’m back!”

Complete the sentences with the HAVING + past participle form of one of these verbs: arrive; climb;

spend; take; work. In which one(s) is it also possible to use an -ING form with a similar meaning?

1. ................................................................... the wrong bus, Tony found himself in an unfamiliar town.

2. .................................................................... a tree, Lee was able to see a way out of the forest.

3. .................................................................... as a clerk, painter and bus driver, Neil decided to go back to

university.

4. .................................................................... all morning working in the garden, Betty took a short lunch break.

5. ...................................................................... early for his appointment, Ron spent some time looking at the

magazines.

Match the sentence halves and add a meaningful connector to join them into a sentence; make any

necessary alterations. Then write a new version beginning with an –ING clause, a HAVING BEEN (+

past participle) clause or a BEING + past participle clause (or NOT + -ING, etc.).

Example: 1+ (d) AS/SINCE she was a doctor, she knew what side-effects the medicine could have. /

She was a doctor SO she knew...

Being a doctor, she knew ...

1. She was a doctor

2. He didn’t expect anyone to be in the house

3. The room had been painted in dark colours

4. Dave was unemployed

5. I don’t speak Italian

6. Barbara had been a teacher for 14 years

a. he had time to consider what job he really wanted.

b. I found life in Sicily difficult.

c. he walked straight in.

d. she knew what side-effects the medicine could have.

e. she knew how to keep children interested.

f. the room needed some bright lights.

4 | CPE 2.1 Dangling Modifiers – Assoc. prof. Estella Ciobanu

Identify whether the following sentences are correct or not. For the latter case, explain what the

mistake consists in and re-write the sentence starting with the subjectless participial clause (like in

the original version).

Since all the sentences refer to a particular professional situation, they can be joined together to form a

coherent text. Do so and make sure that you make all the necessary alterations to end up with a

grammatically correct, ambiguity-free, redundancy-free and coherent text. You cannot maintain the

sentence structure of the correct(ed) version you had in the first stage of this exercise.

1. Assigned to interview an unfriendly person, the experience can be instructive to a student

journalist.

2. To be successful, careful plans must be made by the student journalist.

3. Being tense, the interview might begin on the wrong note for an inexperienced journalist.

4. Until relaxed, questions should mention only neutral topics.

5. After the journalist is more at ease, the person being interviewed might also relax.

6. With a list of questions, the interview process goes more smoothly for everyone involved.

7. Although easy to answer, mistakes are sometimes made on factual questions by a hostile

interviewee.

8. By being analytic and evaluative, those mistakes can reveal a great deal to an experienced

journalist.

9. Knowing how to pace an interview, the hard questions are more likely to be answered honestly

after the interviewee has been caught off guard.

10. Until an interview is complete, the seasoned journalist always remains alert.

11. Essential information might be revealed when leaving.