Dangling Modifier

A dangling modifier (sometimes referred as a dangling participle or illogical participle) is a form of confusing grammatical construct in which a grammatical modifier is paired with a word different than the one intended. A dangling modifier is a participle that has no subject. A writer might employ a hanging modifier to alter a subject, but the modifier’s word order might imply that it describes an object, or vice versa.

Dangling modifier

A dangling modifier is a phrase or sentence that does not have an obvious and logical relationship with the word or words it modifies.

Two things to keep in mind with dangling modifiers:

• A dangling modifier, unlike a misplaced modifier, cannot be fixed by simply shifting it to a different location in the phrase

• The dangling modifier is usually found at the start of a sentence; however, it can also be found at the conclusion

Errors

When the phrase fails to define anything with which the modifier can refer, the dangling modifier mistake appears.

1. Looking toward the west, the funnel shaped cloud stirred up dust.

This sentence makes no mention of who is facing west. In reality, the modifying phrase looking toward the west cannot logically refer to anything in the statement. The statement implies that the cloud is doing the looking because the modifier, looking west, is sitting next to the funnel-shaped cloud.

Occasionally, the dangling modifier is attached to the incorrect noun or noun substitution.

2. Having been fixed the night before, priscilla could use the car.

Because the phrase “had been fixed the night before” occurs next to Priscilla, the sentence implies that she had been repaired the night before.

Corrections

There are two techniques to deal with dangling modifier error.

No. 1-

1. Keep the modifier in place.

2. Change the major part of the statement to begin with the term that has been changed.

3. The modifier will now appear next to the phrase it modifies.

Now, 1 can be corrected as,

1. Looking toward the west, I saw a funnel shaped cloud stir up dust.

Now the wording indicates that I was facing west.

No. 2-

1. Create a subject and verb by converting the dangling modifier phrase to a subordinate clause.

2. The rest of the statement should be left alone.

Now, 2 can be corrected as,

2. since the car had been fixed the night before, priscilla could use it.

The sentence now indicates that the car (not Priscilla!) has been repaired.

Dangling participle

In grammatical language, a dangling participle is just an adjective that modifies the wrong noun in a sentence accidentally.

It’s easy to mistakenly employ a dangling participle, but these troublesome participles are simple to repair. The participle speeding is used when you say, “Speeding down the corridor, the entrance of his math class came into view” (an adjective from the -ing form of a verb). It sounds like the door is speeding down the corridor because it’s dangling, unrelated to the person who’s speeding. “Speeding down the corridor, he saw the door come into view,” say instead.

Non-participial modifiers

Dangling non-participial modifiers can also be problematic:

Walter P. Stanley, III, left, discovered all of the ancient Bangor Lions Club documents after years of being buried under a mountain of dust.

The preceding statement, taken from a newspaper photo caption, implies that the subject of the sentence, Walter Stanley, was buried under a mound of dust, rather than the records. It’s the prepositional phrase “after years of being lost behind a layer of dust” that catches the eye.

Certain formulations can be legitimately confusing as to whether the subject, direct object, or anything else is the right affix for the participle.

Ambiguous grammatical construct

Syntactic ambiguity (also known as structural or grammatical ambiguity) in English grammar refers to the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single sentence or sequence of words, as opposed to lexical ambiguity, which refers to the presence of two or more possible meanings within a single word. The context of use can usually—but not always—determine the intended meaning of a syntactically ambiguous phrase.

Misunderstandings Caused by Ambiguity

Poor word choice is the most common cause of syntactic ambiguity. If care isn’t taken when choosing phrases that can have several meanings when employed in a connotative rather than denotative context, or if the sentences in which they’re used aren’t properly structured, the consequences can be confusing for readers or listeners.

Using Speech Cues to Decipher Syntactic Ambiguity

Authors M. Eysenck and M. Keane explain in their book “Cognitive Psychology” that some syntactic ambiguity happens on a “global level,” meaning that entire sentences might have two or more potential interpretations, offering the sentence “They are frying apples” as an example.

The point of contention is whether “cooking” is employed as an adjective or a verb. “They” refers to the apples, and “cooking” specifies the type of apples being addressed if it’s an adjective. “They” refers to the individuals who are cooking the apples if it’s a verb.

Listeners can figure out which meaning is suggested in spoken words “by exploiting prosodic clues in the form of stress, intonation, and so on,” according to the authors. They use the ambiguous line “The aged men and ladies sat on the bench” as an example. Are the ladies, like the males, getting older?

Syntactic Ambiguity in Humour

Syntactic ambiguity isn’t something most people aim for in clear communication, yet it has its purposes. When double meanings are used for humorous purposes, it’s one of the most enjoyable. Taking a statement out of context and giving it a new meaning almost always results in a laugh.

Conclusion

In the article we learned that Absolute constructions are comparable to dangling participles, however absolute constructions are regarded grammatical and uncontroversial. A participle phrase in an absolute construction, on the other hand, is not semantically related to any single element in the sentence. A participle phrase is intended to modify a specific noun or pronoun, but in a dangling participle, it is incorrectly linked to another noun or to nothing; whereas in an absolute clause, it is not intended to modify any noun at all, and so the intended usage is to modify nothing.