Editing Dangling modifier (section)

{{short description|Type of misplaced grammatical phrase}}
A '''dangling modifier''' (also known as a '''dangling participle''', '''illogical participle''' or '''hanging participle''') is a type of ambiguous [[grammatical]] construct whereby a [[grammatical modifier]] could be misinterpreted as being associated with a word other than the one intended.<ref>McArthur, Tom, ed. ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'', Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 752–753 {{ISBN|0-19-214183-X}}.</ref> A dangling modifier has no subject and is usually a [[participle]]. A writer may use a dangling modifier intending to modify a [[Subject (grammar)|subject]] while word order may imply that the modifier describes an [[Object (grammar)|object]], or vice versa.

An example of a dangling modifier appears in the sentence "Turning the corner, a handsome school building appeared".<ref>''Merriam Webster's Dictionary of English Usage'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=2yJusP0vrdgC&pg=PA315 p. 315], Merriam-Webster, 1995.</ref> The modifying clause ''Turning the corner'' describes the behavior of the narrator, but the narrator is only implicit in the sentence. The sentence could be misread, with the ''turning'' action attaching either to the ''handsome school building'' or to nothing at all. As another example, in the sentence "At the age of eight, my family finally bought a dog",<ref>''The Least You Should Know about English'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=5bJhOukI2scC&pg=PA134 p. 134], Wilson and Glazier, Cengage Learning, 2008.</ref> the modifier ''At the age of eight'' is dangling. It is intended to specify the narrator's age when the family bought the dog, but the narrator is again only implicitly a part of the sentence. It could be read as the ''family'' was eight years old when it bought the dog.