What Are Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers? A Beginner’s Guide

Ever find yourself puzzling over your child’s English homework, trying to figure out why a sentence just doesn’t sound right? Often, the culprit is a common grammar slip-up involving misplaced or dangling modifiers. It’s a tricky area for learners and even for us adults! 

This guide is designed for parents like you. We’ll simply break down what are misplaced and dangling modifiers, using easy examples. By the end, you’ll feel more confident checking your child’s writing and helping them become clearer communicators. Let’s make grammar a little less daunting together.

What Are Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers?

Right then, let’s get straight into it. In English, a modifier is simply a word, phrase, or clause that describes or provides more information about another word in the sentence. 

Think of them as descriptive details that add colour and clarity. For example, in the sentence “The hungry cat cried for food,” the word hungry is a modifier because it describes the cat. Easy enough, right?

The trouble starts when these descriptive bits and pieces end up in the wrong place or don’t have a clear word to describe. This is where we get two common, and sometimes hilarious, grammatical slip-ups: misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers.

A misplaced modifier is a descriptive phrase that is put in the wrong part of a sentence, so it accidentally describes the wrong thing. 

It’s like pointing at a plate of chicken rice but saying, “I’ll have that bowl of laksa.” The listener gets confused because your description doesn’t match the subject you’re pointing at. This often creates sentences that are awkward, illogical, or just plain funny.

For instance:

• “She served pudding to the guests on plastic plates.”
  • This sentence unintentionally suggests the guests were sitting on plastic plates while being served pudding! The modifier “on plastic plates” is misplaced.

A dangling modifier, on the other hand, is a bit different. It’s a descriptive phrase that starts a sentence but doesn’t have a logical subject to describe in the main clause that follows. The thing being described is completely missing, leaving the modifier “dangling” without a connection.

For instance:

• “Walking through the park, the trees looked magnificent.”
  • Who was walking through the park? The trees? Of course not. The person doing the walking isn’t mentioned, so the opening phrase “Walking through the park” is left dangling.

In short, both errors create confusion. A misplaced modifier describes the wrong thing, while a dangling modifier has nothing to describe at all. Getting them right is key to making sure your writing is clear, professional, and says exactly what you mean.

Misplaced vs. Dangling Modifiers: What’s The Difference?

At first glance, misplaced and dangling modifiers can seem quite similar—both make sentences confusing and awkward. However, the difference between them is straightforward once you know what to look for. 

It all comes down to whether the thing being described is in the sentence but in the wrong place or missing from the sentence entirely.

Let’s break it down with a simple comparison.

Misplaced Modifiers: The Subject Is Present, But In The Wrong Spot

Think of a misplaced modifier as a simple problem of organisation or location. All the necessary parts of the sentence are there, but the descriptive phrase is too far away from the word it’s supposed to describe.

The Golden Rule: A modifier should always be placed as close as possible to the word it modifies.

Let’s look at an example:

• Misplaced: “The student read a book on the bus with a red cover.”
• What it sounds like: The bus has a red cover.
• The Problem: The modifying phrase “with a red cover” is right next to “bus,” so it seems to describe the bus. We know logically it’s the book that has the red cover.
• The Fix: Move the modifier closer to what it’s actually describing.
• Corrected: “The student on the bus read a book with a red cover.”

In this case, the subject (the book) was always in the sentence; the description was just poorly placed.

Dangling Modifiers: The Subject Is Completely Missing

A dangling modifier is a more significant structural problem because the word it’s supposed to describe isn’t even in the sentence. The introductory phrase is left hanging, or “dangling,” because its logical subject is absent.

This usually happens with introductory phrases that describe an action.

Let’s look at an example:

• Dangling: “Having finished lunch, the bus departed for the museum.”
• What it sounds like: The bus finished lunch.
• The Problem: Who finished lunch? It certainly wasn’t the bus. The person or people who ate lunch are not mentioned anywhere in the sentence.
• The Fix: You need to add the missing subject into the main part of the sentence.
• Corrected: “Having finished lunch, the students boarded the bus that departed for the museum.” or “After we finished lunch, the bus departed for the museum.

The Easiest Way to Tell Them Apart:

• To find a misplaced modifier, look at a descriptive phrase and ask, “Is it next to the thing it’s describing?” If not, it’s probably misplaced.
• To find a dangling modifier, look at an introductory phrase and ask, “Who or what is doing this action?” If the answer isn’t in the sentence, it’s dangling.

How To Identify Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers?

Spotting these tricky errors in your own writing, or in your child’s homework, might seem like a job for an English teacher, but it’s actually quite simple once you know the techniques. 

You don’t need to be a grammar expert. All you need is a logical approach to see if a sentence makes sense. Let’s walk through how to identify both misplaced and dangling modifiers with some easy-to-follow checks.

How To Identify Misplaced Modifiers

A misplaced modifier is a word or phrase that’s in the wrong spot, making it describe the wrong thing. To find it, you just need to play detective and check if the description is sitting next to its correct subject.

• Step 1: Find the modifier. First, locate the descriptive word or phrase in the sentence. This could be a single word (like an adverb), a prepositional phrase (e.g., with a loud bark, in the corner), or a descriptive clause (e.g., who was wearing a hat).
  • Example Sentence: “The boy ate the sandwich that he had bought from the canteen with a big smile.”
  • The modifier here is the phrase “with a big smile.”
• Step 2: Identify what it is describing. Ask yourself: logically, who or what does this phrase describe? In our example, who had the “big smile”? It was the boy, not the canteen or the sandwich.
• Step 3: Check the proximity. Now, look at where the modifier is placed. Is it right next to the word it’s supposed to describe?
  • In our sentence, “with a big smile” is placed next to “canteen.” This makes it sound like the canteen was smiling. Since the modifier is not next to “the boy,” it is misplaced.
• The “Read It Literally” Test: A great final check is to read the sentence aloud exactly as it is written. If it creates a silly or impossible mental picture (like a smiling canteen), you have almost certainly found a misplaced modifier.
  • Corrected Version: “With a big smile, the boy ate the sandwich that he had bought from the canteen.”

How To Identify Dangling Modifiers

A dangling modifier is an error where the person or thing being described is completely missing from the sentence. You can usually spot these at the beginning of a sentence.

• Step 1: Look for an introductory phrase. Dangling modifiers often appear as phrases that open a sentence, typically starting with an “-ing” or “-ed” verb (e.g., Running for the bus…, Exhausted from the match…), or after words like while or after.
  • Example Sentence: “Having revised all night, the exam paper seemed surprisingly easy.”
• Step 2: Ask “Who or what?” Read the introductory phrase and ask, “Who or what was doing this action?”
  • In our example, who was “having revised all night”? The logical answer is a student.
• Step 3: Check the subject of the main clause. Now, look at the subject of the main part of the sentence (the bit after the comma). Does it match the answer from Step 2?
  • The subject of the main clause is “the exam paper.”
  • Does “the exam paper” = “the student”? No. The actual doer (the student) is completely missing from the sentence, which means the introductory phrase is dangling.
• The “Add a Subject” Fix: If you have to rewrite the sentence and add a subject to make it logical, you’ve confirmed it’s a dangling modifier.
  • Corrected Version: “Having revised all night, the student found the exam paper surprisingly easy.”

10 Common Errors Of Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers (And How To Fix Them)

Now for the most important part! Let’s look at some common mistakes people make. Seeing them in action is the best way to understand how to spot and fix them in your child’s writing.

1. Adverb Placement Errors

Single-word adverbs like only, just, nearly, almost, and even are some of the most frequently misplaced modifiers. Where you place them can completely change the meaning of a sentence. It’s a small word, but it has a big job.

• The Error: “He only eats durian in the summer.”
• What it sounds like: This sentence implies that during the summer, the only thing he does is eat durian—he doesn’t sleep, work, or do anything else.
• The Problem: The adverb ‘only’ is modifying the verb ‘eats’, but the real intention is to limit the type of fruit he eats.
• How to Fix It: Place the adverb directly before the word or phrase it is meant to limit.
• Corrected: “He eats only durian in the summer.” (This means durian is the only fruit he eats then.)
• Or: “He eats durian only in the summer.” (This means summer is the only time he eats it.)

2. Prepositional Phrase Misplacement

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that usually tells you where something is or when something happened (e.g., in the garden, with a fork, after the movie). If you place it in the wrong spot, you can create some very strange mental images.

• The Error: “The girl saw a bird in the tree with a telescope.”
• What it sounds like: This suggests the tree itself owned and was holding a telescope.
• The Problem: The phrase “with a telescope” is meant to describe how the girl saw the bird, but its placement next to “tree” makes it describe the tree instead.
• How to Fix It: Move the prepositional phrase so it’s next to the word it logically describes—in this case, the action of seeing.
• Corrected: “With a telescope, the girl saw a bird in the tree.”

3. Participial Phrase Misplacement

A participial phrase often starts with a verb ending in -ing or -ed and acts like an adjective to describe a noun. These phrases need to be right next to the noun they are modifying, or things can get very confusing.

• The Error: “Covered in thick kaya, the boy spread the toast for his breakfast.”
• What it sounds like: This paints a picture of a boy who is himself covered in kaya.
• The Problem: The participial phrase “Covered in thick kaya” is describing the toast, but because it’s at the start of the sentence, it incorrectly attaches itself to “the boy.”
• How to Fix It: Rearrange the sentence so the participial phrase is right next to the noun it’s supposed to describe.
• Corrected: “The boy spread the toast, covered in thick kaya, for his breakfast.”

4. Relative Clause Misplacement

A relative clause gives more information about a noun and usually starts with who, which, or that. Just like other modifiers, it must be placed immediately after the noun it’s describing to avoid any mix-ups.

• The Error: “The student is sitting next to the teacher who is wearing the school jacket.”
• What it sounds like: This sentence makes it unclear who is wearing the jacket—is it the student or the teacher? Because the clause is at the very end, it could be either.
• The Problem: The clause “who is wearing the school jacket” is intended to identify one specific person, but its placement creates ambiguity.
• How to Fix It: Reorder the sentence to place the noun and its descriptive clause together.
• Corrected: “The student who is wearing the school jacket is sitting next to the teacher.”

5. Multiple Possible Referents

This is a specific and tricky type of misplaced modifier, often called a “squinting” modifier. It happens when a word or phrase is placed between two parts of a sentence, making it possible to modify either the part before it or the part after it. It’s “squinting” because it’s looking in two directions at once.

• The Error: “Telling students to revise often results in better grades.”
• What it sounds like: Does this mean the act of telling students often leads to better grades? Or does it mean telling them to revise often leads to better grades? It’s unclear.
• The Problem: The adverb “often” is stuck in the middle, creating ambiguity.
• How to Fix It: Rewrite the sentence to place the modifier in a position where it can only describe one thing.
• Corrected (Option 1): “Often, telling students to revise results in better grades.” (This clarifies that the telling happens often.)
• Corrected (Option 2): “Telling students to revise often results in better grades.” (This clarifies that the revising should happen often.)

6. Opening Phrase Without Logical Subject

This is the most classic and common type of dangling modifier. It happens when a sentence begins with a descriptive phrase about an action, but the person or thing doing the action (the logical subject) is nowhere to be found in the main part of the sentence.

• The Error: “Running for the bus, an umbrella was dropped in a puddle.”
• What it sounds like: This sentence suggests that the umbrella itself was running for the bus.
• The Problem: Ask the question: “Who was running for the bus?” The sentence doesn’t tell us. The doer of the action is missing, so the opening phrase is left dangling.
• How to Fix It: You must add the missing subject into the main clause, right after the comma.
• Corrected: “Running for the bus, a woman dropped her umbrella in a puddle.”

7. Implied Subject Mismatch

This is a subtle but important error. The sentence might imply a subject, but the actual subject written in the main clause doesn’t match the action in the introductory phrase. It often happens when talking about age or a state of being.

• The Error: “When only six years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons.”
• What it sounds like: This structure suggests that your mother was six years old when she enrolled you.
• The Problem: The introductory phrase “When only six years old” is meant to describe you, but the subject of the main clause is “my mother.” The intended subject (“I”) and the actual subject (“my mother”) do not match.
• How to Fix It: Rewrite the sentence so the correct subject follows the introductory phrase.
• Corrected: “When I was only six years old, my mother enrolled me in piano lessons.”

8. Omitted Actor In The Sentence

This error is very similar to the classic dangling modifier, but it highlights that the “actor” or “doer” is completely omitted from the sentence, often making the sentence feel impersonal and vague.

• The Error: “To improve his writing, more practice was needed.”
• What it sounds like: This is grammatically awkward because it doesn’t state who needs to do the practising.
• The Problem: The introductory phrase “To improve his writing” sets up a goal, but the main clause “more practice was needed” doesn’t name the person who needs to perform the action. The actor is missing.
• How to Fix It: Rewrite the sentence to include the actor.
• Corrected: “To improve his writing, he needed more practice.”

9. Passive Constructions That Hide The Subject

Using the passive voice (e.g., “the ball was thrown” instead of “he threw the ball”) is a major cause of dangling modifiers because it often hides or removes the subject. When the doer is hidden, an introductory phrase has nothing to latch onto.

• The Error: “After proofreading the essay carefully, it was submitted before the deadline.”
• What it sounds like: This implies that “it” (the essay) did the proofreading.
• The Problem: The main clause “it was submitted” is in the passive voice, which hides who did the submitting and, more importantly, who did the proofreading.
• How to Fix It: Change the main clause to the active voice to reveal the subject.
• Corrected: “After proofreading the essay carefully, she submitted it before the deadline.”

10. Misleading Time Or Condition Clauses

Clauses that set a time or condition, often starting with words like while, after, before, or if, can also dangle if the subject of the main clause is not the one performing the action in that clause.

• The Error: “While doing the washing up, the doorbell rang loudly.”
• What it sounds like: This sentence suggests the doorbell was doing the washing up.
• The Problem: The clause “While doing the washing up” needs a doer. The subject of the main clause is “the doorbell,” which is not the person washing the dishes.
• How to Fix It: Add the correct subject to the sentence so it’s clear who was doing the action when the doorbell rang.
• Corrected: “While I was doing the washing up, the doorbell rang loudly.”

6 Tips On How You Can Avoid Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers

Becoming a grammar pro doesn’t happen overnight, but developing a few good habits can make a huge difference. 

Preventing these errors is often easier than trying to find them later. Here is a handy checklist of practical tips and proofreading strategies that you and your child can use to keep writing clear, logical, and error-free.

1. Keep Descriptions Close To What They Describe

This is the golden rule. Make it a habit to place your descriptive words and phrases right next to the person, place, or thing they are modifying. The further away a modifier is from its subject, the higher the chance of confusion.

• Instead of: “The boy held a puppy in his arms that was shaking with fear.”
• Think: The puppy was shaking, not the arms. So, move the description.
• Try: “The boy held a puppy that was shaking with fear in his arms.”

2. Read Your Sentences Aloud

Our eyes often scan over mistakes that our ears will catch immediately. After writing something, read it aloud slowly and literally. If a sentence makes you chuckle or creates a silly mental picture (like a tree holding a telescope), it’s a big red flag that you probably have a misplaced modifier.

3. Check Sentences That Start With An Action

Pay special attention to any sentence that begins with an introductory phrase, especially one starting with an ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’ verb (e.g., Running to the canteen…, Tired from football practice…).

• The Check: Pause after the comma and ask, “Who or what was doing that action?”
• Then: Look at the word that immediately follows the comma. Is it the correct person or thing? If not, you need to rewrite the sentence.

4. Write In The Active Voice 

Dangling modifiers love to appear in sentences written in the passive voice because the “doer” of the action is often hidden. A simple way to avoid this is to use the active voice.

• Passive (and Dangling): “After scoring the final goal, a celebration was started.” (Who scored?)
• Active (and Clear): “After scoring the final goal, the team started a celebration.” Writing in the active voice forces you to name the subject, making your sentences clearer and more direct.

5. Be Careful With Limiting Words 

Be extra careful with single-word adverbs like only, just, almost, and nearly. Ask yourself, “What word am I trying to limit here?” and place the adverb directly before that specific word. As we’ve seen, moving ‘only’ around can completely change what a sentence means.

6. When In Doubt, Rewrite The Sentence 

Sometimes, a sentence is so tangled that just moving a phrase around doesn’t quite fix it. Don’t be afraid to break it into two shorter sentences or completely restructure it. Clarity is always more important than a complex sentence structure.

• Awkward: “The durian was given to the man that was very pungent.”
• Better: “The man was given the durian, which was very pungent.” Or even: “The durian was very pungent. It was given to the man.”

Conclusion About Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers

Misplaced and dangling modifiers might seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of the English language, but as we’ve explored, getting them right is crucial. 

By helping your child spot whether a descriptive phrase is in the right place or if a sentence has a clear subject, you are doing more than just correcting grammar—you are teaching them how to communicate their ideas with clarity and precision.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Misplaced And Dangling Modifiers

Can A Single Word, Like ‘only’, Really Be A Misplaced Modifier?

Absolutely. The placement of adverbs like ‘only’, ‘just’, ‘almost’, and ‘nearly’ can dramatically alter a sentence’s meaning. 

For example, “I only ate biscuits” (meaning you ate nothing else) is different from “I ate only biscuits” (meaning you ate nothing but biscuits). Teaching a child where to place these words correctly is key for precise communication.

Are Misplaced Modifiers More Common In Spoken English Than In Writing?

Yes, they often are. In conversation, we use tone, gestures, and immediate context to make our meaning clear, even if our sentences aren’t perfectly structured. 

However, in writing, the words must stand on their own, which is why identifying and correcting misplaced modifiers is a vital skill for formal essays and examinations.

What Is The Easiest Way To Check My Child’s Writing For Dangling Modifiers?

A simple trick is to find sentences that start with an ‘-ing’ or ‘-ed’ phrase (a participial phrase). Ask, “Who or what is doing this action?” Then, check if that person or thing is the subject immediately following the comma. If it’s not, you’ve likely found a dangling modifier.

Why Do Dangling Modifiers Happen So Often With The Passive Voice?

The passive voice can obscure who is performing an action (e.g., “A decision was made” instead of “The committee made a decision”). When an introductory phrase needs a clear ‘doer’, and the main clause is passive, the ‘doer’ is often missing, leaving the modifier dangling and confused.

Is It Always Wrong To Start A Sentence With A Modifying Phrase?

Not at all! Starting a sentence with a modifying phrase is a brilliant way to add variety and detail to writing. The only rule is to ensure the noun or pronoun being described comes directly after the phrase. For example, “Feeling excited, the children ran to the park” is perfectly correct.