What are Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers and it's Examples

A modifier is a clause, phrase or word that modifies another word. Hence, an adverb and adjective are also considered modifiers as they change the meaning of another word or add a description to it. Apart from adjective and adverb modifiers, there are some modifiers that make the sentence confusing, unclear or humorous. A misplaced modifier is a modifier that is put in the wrong place in the sentence. Besides, the phrase, which does not mention a subject, is considered a dangling modifier. Let us understand the misplaced and dangling modifiers in detail.

Misplaced Modifier

A misplaced modifier is a type of modifier that is placed in the wrong part of the sentence. It can be determined when the subject of the modifier is confusing.

Examples:

•    The clock was too old in the store. (Misplaced modifier)

•    The clock in the store was too old. (Correctly placed modifier)

•    She served the coffee to the guest on paper cups. (Misplaced modifier)

•    She served the guest coffee on paper cups. (Correctly placed modifier)

•    He saw a monkey on the way to the store. (Misplaced modifier)

•    On the way to the store, he saw a monkey. (Correctly placed modifier)

Dangling Modifier    

At times, when writing a sentence in a hurry, we often ignore adding a subject to describe who has done or for whom the action is intended, which makes the sentence meaningless or incomplete. Such sentences contain words or phrases that are recognized as the dangling modifiers. In simple words, dangling modifiers are the phrases and clauses that are not clearly related to the words that are modified.

Key points to remember:

1.    A dangling modifier cannot be corrected by moving it to a different place in a sentence.

2.    Generally, it comes at the beginning of the sentence. Besides, it can also appear at the end of the sentence.

Examples:

•    When six years old, my father enrolled in music classes. (Dangling modifier)

•    When I was six years old, my father enrolled in music classes. (Corrected modifier)

•    Having looked through the bakery shop, the cake I wanted was not there. (Dangling modifier)

•    Having looked through the bakery shop, I realized that the cake I wanted was not there. (Corrected modifier)

•    Arrived at the airport early to not miss my flight. (Dangling modifier)

•    I arrived at the airport early to not miss my flight. (Corrected modifier)