A dangling modifier is a phrase (a dependent clause) that does not modify the noun that comes immediately after it. Because it doesn’t, it “dangles” – there is nothing for it to hook onto. Dangling modifiers are confusing for readers because readers expect that the noun closest to a dependent clause will be the one the dependent clause is explaining. For example:
Because (dependent clause) he liked dancing, Jeff (subject of dependent clause) went out every night.
In the case of a dangling modifier, the dependent clause DOES NOT explain (modify) the noun that comes after it:
Coming (dependent clause) into the garden, the flowers seemed large to me (subject of dependent clause).
The flowers are not coming into the garden, and because the reader expects that the dependent clause will modify the noun that comes after it, they are confused.
CORRECT: Coming into (dependent clause) the garden, I (subject of dependent clause) thought the flowers seemed large.
So, a dangling modifier
- usually introduces a sentence,
- usually but not always contains a verb form (almost always an “ing” verb), and
- implies but does not name a subject.
Sometimes a dangling modifier will have an implied subject: it dangles because the phrase that follows contains “it.”
Dangling: Upon (dependent clause) coming into the garden, it seems as if all is normal.
It looks as if “it” is the subject, but if you look, you’ll see that it’s not.
In cases like this, you need to revise the sentence by adding a subject:
CORRECT: When I come into the garden, it seems as if all is normal.
