Beware the dangling modifier
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What’s wrong with these sentences?
Yesterday, after conferring with my senior national security advisers and following extensive consultations with our coalition partners, Saddam Hussein was given one last chance. (President Bush in the Chicago Tribune, 1991)
Driving home recently, a thick pall of smoke turned out to be Deepak’s bungalow, well alight.
Their meaning is clear, but grammar boffins (like the friendly editors at Red Pony) would say these sentences are incorrect.
Here are some more obvious examples:
Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house for a good price.
Dithering about what to do next, the clock struck twelve.
Having only three legs, Emilia decided to throw out the old dining table.
I’m sure you’ve worked these three out: the first sentence suggests that I was in a dilapidated condition, when presumably it was the house. Surely the clock was not dithering. And we all hope that the table had three legs, not poor Emilia.
If we go back to the first pair of examples, we can now see that it was surprisingly even-handed of President Bush to allow Saddam Hussein to confer with the United States’ security advisers and coalition partners. Is that what Bush really meant? And of course a thick pall of smoke can’t drive home.
All of these are examples of ‘dangling modifiers’, also known as unattached modifiers, unattached participles, or misrelated participles. The modifier or participle is the first part of the sentence: ‘Driving home recently’. This refers to Deepak, not to the smoke, but it has been separated from the person to whom it applies, causing confusion.
We could reorganise the sentences as follows:
As the house was in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy it for a good price.
While I was dithering about what to do next, the clock struck twelve.
Because the old dining table had only three legs, Emilia decided to throw it out.
So be careful when starting sentences with ing words (present participles) and similar constructions, as you might introduce a howler. Think about who or what is doing the actions or being described. We are often told to be concise, to use the fewest words necessary to get our meaning across, but this can sometimes cause us to leave out crucial information, causing ambiguity.
Still, don’t be too hard on yourself. Even the Bard came unstuck occasionally:
'Tis given out, that sleeping in mine orchard, a serpent stung me. (Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1602)
