My, my, can it be I have neglected to provide a lecture for you since this time last year? Shame on me! Unfortunately, anyone who has not been hiding under a rock (which, frankly, is sounding like a most desirable option these days) is painfully aware of the current sad state of our country and world. To say the events of 2020 have distracted me would be an understatement of (ahem) epidemic proportions.

Nonetheless, I shall press on, for grammar faux pas continue to abound. 

Thus today I am compelled to begin with a subject I encounter far too frequently in my reading material: the dangling participle. 

First, let us review participles. Simply put, participles are verb forms used as modifiers of nouns. 

The present participle form ends in -ing and expresses the action of the verb as in progress or incomplete.  The past participle ends in -ed and indicates the action of the verb is already complete. 

Participles, then, are either -ing or -ed verbs, either alone or as part of a participial phrase, that are used as modifiers of the noun they are closest to. 

Did you catch that? This is crucial, dear students. Participles and participial phrases modify . . . repeat it with me . . . 

THE NOUN THEY ARE CLOSEST TO. 

And therein lies the problem. To dangle your participle means you have inadvertently placed the noun the participle modifies in a position too far away from the participle for the sentence to make sense, thus creating an absurdity. 

Ah, I see your eyes glazing over. Perhaps some relevant examples will help. Tell me, dear students, can you detect the problems with the following sentences? (Corrected versions will appear at the end of this lecture.)

1. Walking along the cliff, Heathcliff’s eyes fell. 

2. Planted in the garden, Mary watered her daisies. 

3. Roasted to perfection, Judy sampled her Thanksgiving turkey. 

4. Filling the bird feeder, a cat followed closely on Patty’s heels. 

5. One week after calling the insurance company, a check arrived in Jim’s mailbox. 

6. While singing a solo, the microphone slipped from Johanna’s hand. 

7. Walking along the beach, the colorful shell caught Myra’s eye. 

Are you brave enough to explain what is wrong in the above examples and attempt corrections? Do share in the comments! 

Perhaps it will come as no surprise that participial phrases are not the only modifiers writers and speakers often misplace. A particularly annoying version of this error can be heard on many news broadcast teasers. For example: 

“At six o’clock, a cow is hit by a train, causing a two-hour traffic delay.” 

     Shall we all plan to avoid that intersection this evening beginning at six? 

“The bank at Fourth and Main is robbed at eleven.” 

     Good. That gives me ample time to close my account before the robbery occurs. 

Yes, yes, I know these are not exactly misplaced modifiers. More like incomplete modifiers, for we all know the teasers have left out a few important words, as in, “In our six p.m. broadcast, we’ll have details about the cow hit by a train,” or “A bank has been robbed at Fourth and Main. Details at eleven.” 

Forgive me–I simply could not resist airing this pet peeve. I shall now return to today’s lecture. 

As stated previously, modifiers should always be placed as near as possible to the word or phrase being modified, preferably immediately before or after. Otherwise, as we have already seen, the sentence either paints a ridiculous image in our minds or is so convoluted as to be undecipherable. 

Let us now examine a few more examples. See if you can find and correct the misplaced or ambiguous modifiers in the following sentences. 

1. Peter requested assistance installing a new light fixture in his text message.

2. My nurse recommends often drinking grape juice to avoid tummy bugs.

3. Jack swerved to avoid the deer on his way to the post office.

4. Janice announced on Saturday she will finish editing her memoirs. 

5. Lisa almost cries over every romantic novel she reads. 

And now, three examples pulled straight from the daily newspaper in recent weeks!

1. We committed that no one will sit next to you on an airplane that you don’t know or aren’t traveling with.

     (No, I don’t believe this airplane and I have been properly introduced!)

2. The mother has refiled her lawsuit against the school district that was recently dismissed.

     (How, pray tell, do you dismiss a school district?)

3. The 2020 Montana State Fair has been canceled for only the third time in its history due to COVID-19 concerns.

     (You’re saying, then, that there were two previous incarnations of COVID-19 that caused the fair to be canceled? Heaven forbid!)

Are your dear little brains fried yet? If so, you have my permission to apply cold compresses and swallow two aspirin. 

Post your questions and comments below, or feel free to send them to me personally using this comment form.

You can also follow Grammar Queen on Twitter! 

And now, for your edification, here are GQ’s suggested corrections for each example. Don’t peek if you’d first care to try your skills at rewording the sentences. Feel free to share in the comments!

Group #1

1. Heathcliff’s eyes fell as he walked along the cliff.

2. Mary watered the daisies she had planted in the garden. 

3. Judy sampled her Thanksgiving turkey and found it roasted to perfection. 

4. A cat followed closely on Patty’s heels as she filled the bird feeder.

5. One week after Jim called the insurance company, a check arrived in his mailbox. 

6. While Johanna sang a solo, the microphone slipped from her hand. 

7. The colorful shell caught Myra’s eye as she walked along the beach.  

Group #2

1. Peter sent a text message requesting assistance installing a new light fixture.

2. My nurse recommends drinking grape juice often to avoid tummy bugs.

3. On his way to the post office, Jack swerved to avoid the deer.

4. On Saturday, Janice announced she will finish editing her memoirs. 

5. Lisa cries over almost every romantic novel she reads.   

Group #3

1. We committed that on our airplanes no one will sit next to you that you don’t know or aren’t traveling with.

2. The mother has refiled her recently dismissed lawsuit against the school district.

3. Due to COVID-19 concerns, the 2020 Montana State Fair has been canceled for only the third time in its history.