3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers

3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers 3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers 3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers By Mark Nichol When writers attach a phrase to the beginning of a sentence to provide additional information, they must take care that the subject of the sentence actually refers to the action or the thing described in that introductory text. Here are some sentences that illustrate the necessity of this vigilance. 1. â€Å"Originally scheduled for retirement (and certain death) in 2003, the hapless racehorse’s trainer now says that after Glorious Spring’s last race, the horse will be allowed to retire to a comfy pasture on a farm near her birthplace.† This sentence implies that the hapless racehorse’s trainer was originally scheduled for retirement and death – perhaps by execution, because of culpability for the horse’s losing streak? However, it is the horse, not the trainer, whose retirement (and subsequent visit to the slaughterhouse) was averted. The subject of the sentence must be unambiguous: â€Å"The racehorse was originally scheduled for retirement in 2003, but her trainer now says that after Glorious Spring’s last race, the horse will be allowed to retire to a comfy pasture on a farm near Glorious Spring’s birthplace.† (The horse is named again in this revision because the trainer’s gender is not clear thanks to his ambiguous Japanese name, which is not shown in this excerpt and â€Å"her birthplace† might be misconstrued as the trainer’s.) 2. â€Å"Raised in a Lutheran family, two of Paul’s brothers became ministers, and he chose to ‘minister through medicine.’† Two of Paul’s brothers were raised in a Lutheran family, but so were Paul and another brother, and the sentence implies that Lutherans raised only those who became ministers (and, perhaps that those two brothers were raised in another household); the influence of that upbringing on him is obscured. The sentence should be revised to explicitly place the emphasis on Paul (and I’ve clarified the source of the partial quote): â€Å"Paul and his brothers were raised in a Lutheran family, and two of them became ministers, while he chose, as he put it, to ‘minister through medicine.’† 3. â€Å"Normally a four-day voyage, the crew only brought four days’ worth of rations, not anticipating a strong headwind to slow the schooner.† This sentence names the crew as a four-day voyage. To eliminate this unfortunate association, describe the voyage’s customary duration with a simple declarative syntax, then attach the rest of the information: â€Å"The voyage normally took four days, and the crew, not anticipating a strong headwind that slowed the schooner, brought only four days’ worth of rations.† (Note, too, how the revision moves and parenthesizes the incidental information about the obstructive headwind.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:85 Synonyms for â€Å"Help†What is Dative Case?10 Humorous, Derisive, or Slang Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† or â€Å"Official†