Weekly Writing Tip: Write with precision: dangling modifier
An adjective phrase at the beginning of a sentence automatically modifies the first person or
thing that follows the phrase.
There are two ways an adjective phrase can dangle:


when it modifies the wrong person or thing in the sentence
when the sentence does not contain the person or thing modified
Dangling modifier: wrong person or thing modified
In the sentence below, “If successful” automatically refers to “over 100 students,” but it was
intended to refer to “this type of product.”
Dangling modifier: person or thing modified not in sentence
In the sentence below, “If successful” refers to “this type of product,” which is not in the
sentence.
A message from the Instructional Materials Developers in the Learning and
Teaching Centre.
Increasing student engagement with clearer content