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Rowing on the lake, strange bugs were seen.
Modifier
Bugs?
Dressed in Hurrying, the warm ski lift clothing, stopped, the and cold thewas boys no got problem. on.
cat crawled Making the bed, my cat crawled under the covers.
If the modifying phrase doesnt sensibly modify the word or word group after the comma, you probably have a dangling modifier.
Listening to music, the doorbell could not be heard. Which word or word group follows the comma? doorbell Does it make sense that the doorbell is listening to music?
My head immediately hit the pillow, exhausted. Was the pillow exhausted? No.
Dangling modifier
No.
___ 1. Riding our bikes in the mountains, the scenery was great.
___ 2. Mayas phone rang returning home. ___ 3. Checking the shelves, Judy found all the books she needed. ___ 4. Filled with daisies, the two girls strolled through the field.
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When you find a participial phrase that is a dangling modifier, fix the sentence by making the meaning logical and clear. Strategy 1: Revise the word group that follows the dangling participial phrase.
Dangling modifier
Cleaning the attic, we an old found trunk an was old found. trunk.
Now the trunk modifier cleaning attic logically and clearly modifies the Was the cleaning thethe attic? subject we. No. A logical subjectsuch as weneeds to follow the comma.
Revise each sentence to correct the dangling modifier. 1. My father gave me a puppy at the age of ten.
2. Seated near the fifty-yard line, the game was easy to see.
3. Running hard, the shoelace came untied.
4. Walking into the pet shop, the squawking of parrots could be heard.
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Review A
Identify the dangling modifier in each sentence. 1. Reaching the top of the mountain, the view of the city was amazing.
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Review B
Revise each sentence to correct the dangling modifier. 1. Using the vacuum cleaner frequently, the carpets stayed clean. 2. His helmet, wanting to be safe, was worn at all times. 3. Awakened by the garbage truck, it was hard to get back to sleep. 4. Stored in the basement, I put the old books to good use. 5. The perfect quilt was found searching on the Internet.
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