MISPLACED AND

DANGLING MODIFIERS
DI S CUSSED BY:
MA . JUL I E A N N E C. G A JES
T EACHE R I I I
What’s wrong with this sentence?
The dog wagged his tail, looking at a
distance.
*The sentence is incoherent.
Improved sentence:
The dog wagged his tail, as I look at it
from a distance.
Position of modifiers in the sentence
1. One-word modifiers of nouns are placed before the nouns
1. The young witness took his oath
2. The intelligent lawyer questioned his credibility

2. Phrase and clause modifiers of nouns are placed immediately after the word they modify
1. Children, yawning and rubbing their eyes, returned his state.
2. I wish I had the faith of the man who wrote this letter.

3. Phrase modifiers may be placed at the beginning of the sentence provided that the
noun/pronoun that follows as the subject is the word modified.
1. Viewed from the outside, the house seemed spacious.
2. To write effective sentences, one must observe the principles of unity, coherence and emphasis.
Position of modifiers in the sentence
1. Only, enough, just may be used as adjectives/adverbs. When used as adjectives they are
placed before the nouns they modify.
1. Only Jane attended the meeting
2. It’s just the wind

2. When only is used as an adverb it may be placed before or after the word it modifies.
1. Melita only prepared the ingredients; she didn’t bake the cake.
2. He came only to inform you of his proposed project

3. When enough is used as an adverb, it is placed, it is placed after the word it modifies
followed by an infinitive.
1. Clarissa Ocampo was brave enough to tell the truth.
Let’s evaluate
Put the modifiers where they should be in the
sentence.
1. God gave you the gift, your life. (greatest, one
and only, the almighty)
2. Shine forth (and of your love, of your faith,
with the light)
Dangling constructions
To avoid dangling modifiers: 1) make certain that the modifiers are as close as possible to the
word modified; 2) express the word modified; 3) expand the dangling construction into a clause.
1. Dangling Participial Phase
1. Dangling: The lady’s gown glitters, looking at a distance
2. Improved: The lady’s gown glitters, as I look at it from a distance

2. Dangling Infinitive Phrase

1. Dangling: To succeed in class, constant review was made.
2. Improved: To succeed in class, my classmate reviewed constantly.

3. Dangling Gerund Phrase

1. Dangling: For winning the race, a gold medal award was given to Mikee.
2. Improved: For winning the race, Mikee was given a gold medal award.
Dangling constructions
1. Dangling elliptical clause
1. Dangling: While singing the national anthem, the piano was being played.
2. Improved: While the SMU chorale was singing the national anthem, Fr. Ted was playing the piano.
Let’s evaluate
Rewrite the erroneous sentences to correct the dangling constructions, If the
sentence has no error, write C.
1. Due to inattentiveness, difficulty was experienced by the learner.
2. After reviewing the paragraph, it was revised.
3. Before giving the test, the students reviewed the items.
4. To establish coherence, dangling constructions were corrected.
5. Delfin studies diligently, thereby making him accomplish his plans.