How to avoid dangling modifiers.

To dangle means to hang loosely, and dangling modifiers happen when we do not write sentences tightly enough. The Thammasat University Libraries own some guides to writing in English with chapters discussing the issue of dangling modifiers.

A modifier changes the meaning of other parts of a sentence. When we construct sentences loosely, the result can be confusing:

• Running out of the classroom, the books fell on the floor.
• Aunt Ngam-Chit gave durian to her nephews divided into individual plastic bags.
• I smelled the durian walking up the stairs of the faculty building.

In the above sentences, it is easy to confuse the intended meaning. The writer did not want to say that the books ran out of the classroom, nor that Ngam-Chit’s nephews are in individual plastic bags. Nor did the writer mean that durian was walking up the stairs of the faculty building. Written more clearly, these sentences might look something like the following:

• As I ran out of the classroom, the books fell on the floor.
• Aunt Ngam-Chit gave durian divided into individual plastic bags to her nephews.
• Walking up the stairs of the faculty building, I smelled the durian.

Carefully arranged sentences make it clear what it being said. Any time you use verbs, make sure that the subject is placed correctly.

• We noticed a dead crab-eating macaque driving down the highway.
• Khun Tha Kai Bok weaves Thai silk for farang with special decorations on them.
• I looked at artworks by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Vasan Sitthiket, Montien Boonma, and Vasan Sitthiket displayed in the museum with my sisters.
• My brother wears a waterproof teak leaf hat on his head, which is too small.

The writer of the above sentences did not mean that the dead macaque was driving down the highway. Or that farang had special decorations on them, or that artworks were displayed in a museum with his sisters, or that his brother’s head is too small. Yet that is exactly what these sentences with dangling participles suggest to the reader. To reorganize them to say the right thing, the sentences should be rewritten:

• Driving down the highway, we noticed a dead crab-eating macaque.
• Khun Tha Kai Bok weaves Thai silk with special decorations on them for farang.
• With my sisters, I looked at artworks by Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook, Vasan Sitthiket, Montien Boonma, and Vasan Sitthiket displayed in the museum.
• My brother wears a waterproof teak leaf hat which is too small on his head.

Sometimes you can get rid of dangling modifiers by putting the adjective or adverb closer to the word being modified. When a word is close to the adjective or adverb,  what is being described becomes more obvious. Avoid such constructions as:

• Cooking on the grill, Gamon smelled the Gai Yang.
• Driving home from the Patiparn Pataweekarn concert, my keychain was lost.

Instead, you might say:

• Gamon smelled the Gai Yang cooking on the grill.
• Driving home from the Patiparn Pataweekarn concert, I lost my keychain.

In the above sentences, there is no ambiguity. Gamon was not cooking on the grill, instead of the appetizing chicken dish. Also, your keychain did not drive home from the Patiparn Pataweekarn concert. Changing the order of the words is the best way to say what you mean. If there is a comma in your sentence, try to put immediately after the comma whatever is being referred to by the words before the comma. Since you are the driver in the example about the Patiparn Pataweekarn concert, you should mention yourself right after the comma. The following two sentences have different meanings:

• On the Boomerango at Splash Jungle Water Park in Phuket, I saw my roommate.
• I saw my roommate on the Boomerango at Splash Jungle Water Park in Phuket.

In the first case, you were the one enjoying the ride at the park. In the second example, your roommate was the one on the ride. If you both were on the ride, then you should say so clearly.

I was informed that I had been named Valedictorian by the dean of my Faculty.

From the above, it is not certain whether the dean told you about the good news, or whether the dean personally decided that you had the highest ranking in your graduating class, and must make a statement at the graduation ceremony. If you mean that the dean told you individually, then rearrange the sentence to mention the dean closer to the verb informed, which applies to him.

I was informed by the dean of my Faculty that I had been named Valedictorian.

To be certain, decide what you want to say in a sentence before you write it:

• I almost failed every mechanical engineering exam I took.
• I failed almost every mechanical engineering exam I took.

In the first sentence, you nearly failed each test, but you did not in fact fail. You barely passed, but it was a close call on all occasions. In the second sentence you failed lots of tests, indeed you failed almost every single one. When writing about such sensitive matters, it is important that you get it right, so that people do not think you failed more than you did.

Covered in orchids, Chaem Choi admired Ratchaphruek Garden.

Since Chaem Choi was not covered in orchids but the park was, it is better to say:

Chaem Choi admired Ratchaphruek Garden, covered in orchids.

Sometimes just changing the placement of an adverb can clear up any confusion:

People who eat rarely are thin.

Does the writer mean to say that people who do not eat often are thin, or that people who do eat are not often thin? If people who do not eat often are being referred to, then it should be:

People who rarely eat are thin.

Or if people who eat being not often thin is meant, then the following is the best choice:

People who eat are rarely thin.

Notice that in both cases, by relocating the adverb rarely closer to the word it modifies, things become much more precise. Also note that despite all the potential problems mentioned above, you can put adverbs where you wish in many cases without changing the meaning:

• Diligently, we studied for the exam.
• We studied for the exam diligently.
• We diligently studied for the exam.

All of these sentences are correct. They mean the same thing and there is no confusion over what the adverb modifies.

Try not to worry too much about dangling modifiers, since they can sometimes be funny. For example, the famous joke said in the 1930 film Animal Crackers by the comedian Groucho Marx:

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I’ll never know.

If Groucho Marx had been preparing a thesis or academic article, most likely he would have written:

One morning in my pajamas, I shot an elephant.

But then there would have been no joke.

(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)