DANGLING MODIFIERS

By: Selamat H. Napitupulu

Program Studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris

Fakultas Bahasa dan Seni
UNIVERSITAS INDRAPRASTA PGRI JAKARTA
 SENTENCE CLARITY
Common Clarity Concerns in Paragraph and essay

This presentation will cover four topics:

1. Misplaced modifiers
2. Dangling modifiers
3. Parallel Structures
4. Active Voice & Passive Voice
5. Tenses
6. Meaning ( Meases)
 No.1

Incorrect: Hungry, devoured the leftover cake.

 No.1

Incorrect: Hungry, devoured the leftover cake.

Correct: Hungry, the boys devoured the leftover

cake.
 No.2

Incorrect: Rummaging in his giant backpack,

failed to find sunglasses.

 No.2

Incorrect: Rummaging in his giant backpack, failed to

find his sunglasses.

Correct: Rummaging in his giant backpack, Jack failed to
find his sunglasses .
 No.3
Incorrect: With a sigh of disappointment,
the fancy skirt returned to the stand.
 No.3
Incorrect: With a sigh of disappointment,
the fancy skirt returned to the stand.
Correct: With a sigh of
disappointment, Jenny returned the fancy
skirt to the stand.
 No.4
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Having injured her right hand, it
was difficult to play badminton.
 No.4
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Having injured her right hand, it
was difficult to play badminton.
Correct: Having injured her right hand,
Kate had difficulty playing badminton.
 No.5
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Riding in the sports car, the
world whizzed by rapidly.
 No.5
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Riding in the sports car, the
world whizzed by rapidly.

Correct: As Jane was riding in the sports

car, the world whizzed by rapidly.
 No.6
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Having injured her right hand,
it was difficult to play badminton.
 No.6
MAIN CLUASE
Incorrect: Having injured her right hand,
it was difficult to play badminton.

Correct: Since Kate had injured her right

hand, it was difficult for her to play
badminton.
 No.7
Incorrect:
(1) Will was disappointed when he looked
in the refrigerator. (2) There had been lots
of spaghetti last night. (3) His roommates,
however, almost had eaten all of it. (4)
Frowning angrily, nothing but a few
strands of spaghetti were left.
 No.7
Incorrect:
(1) Will was disappointed when he looked in the refrigerator. (2)
There had been lots of spaghetti last night. (3) His roommates,
however, almost had eaten all of it. (4) Frowning angrily, nothing but
a few strands of spaghetti were left.

Correct:
(1) Will was disappointed when he looked in the refrigerator. (2)
There had been lots of spaghetti last night. The roommates didn’t eat
the spaghetti. Actually, they did eat most of it. Frowning angrily, he
found nothing left but a few strands of spaghetti.
 No.8
Incorrect:
(1) Lani stopped to watch with amazement
as the sidewalk artist worked on his next
masterpiece. (2) He was drawing a pencil
portrait of a little girl. (3) Sketching quickly,
the portrait took shape under the artist’s
careful hand.
 No.8
Incorrect:
(1) Lani stopped to watch with amazement as the sidewalk artist
worked on his next masterpiece. (2) He was drawing a pencil portrait
of a little girl. (3) Sketching quickly, the portrait took shape under the
artist’s careful hand.
Correct:
Lani stopped to watch with amazement as the sidewalk artist worked
on his next masterpiece. LANI/She was drawing a pencil portrait of a
little girl. As she sketched quickly, she took the shape of the portrait
under the artist’s careful hand.
Directions: Rewrite the following paragraph correcting all the
misplaced and dangling modifiers.

(1) I bought a fresh loaf of bread for my sandwich shopping in the

grocery store. (2) Wanting to make a delicious sandwich, the
mayonnaise was thickly spread. (3) Placing the cold cuts on the bread,
the lettuce was placed on top. (4) I cut the sandwich in half with a knife
turning on the radio. (5) Biting into the sandwich, my favorite song
blared loudly in my ears. (6) Humming and chewing, my sandwich went
down smoothly. (7) Smiling, my sandwich will be made again, but next
time I will add cheese.
( https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/2-7-misplaced-
and-dangling-modifiers/)
Directions: Rewrite the following paragraph correcting all the
misplaced and dangling modifiers.

(1) I bought a fresh loaf of bread for my sandwich shopping in the

grocery store. (2) Wanting to make a delicious sandwich, the
mayonnaise was thickly spread. (3) Placing the cold cuts on the bread,
the lettuce was placed on top. (4) I cut the sandwich in half with a
knife turning on the radio. (5) Biting into the sandwich, my favorite
song blared loudly in my ears. (6) Humming and chewing, my sandwich
went down smoothly. (7) Smiling, my sandwich will be made again, but
next time I will add cheese. (
https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/2-7-misplaced-
and-dangling-modifiers/)
Directions: Rewrite the following paragraph correcting all the
misplaced and dangling modifiers.

(1) I bought a fresh loaf of bread for my sandwich in the shopping

grocery store. (2) Wanting to make a delicious sandwich, the
mayonnaise was spread thickly. (3) Placing the cold cuts on the bread, I
placed the lettuce on top. (4) I cut the sandwich in half with a knife
while I was turning on the radio. (5) Biting into the sandwich, I blared
my favorite song loudly in my ears.(6) Humming and chewing, my
sandwich went down smoothly. (7) Smiling, I will make some sandwich
again, but next time I will add cheese.

( https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/2-7-misplaced-
and-dangling-modifiers/)
Directions: Underline any misplaced and dangling modifiers in the paragraph below. Then, re-
write the paragraph in the space provided fixing any misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers.
There may be more than one correct way to fix a misplaced or dangling modifier.

(1) Spending the evening together recently, a group of friends were talking about their most
embarrassing moments in high school. (2) Pauline volunteered to tell her embarrassing story
first.(3) Bouncing on the trampoline in gym class, her shorts fell down to her ankles. (4) Lin
decided to share her embarrassing moment next. (5) She recalled that she was caught cheating
while taking a biology test. (6) She had written the answers to the test on her fingernails. (7) As
punishment, Lin had to write, “I will never cheat again,” one hundred times on the board. (8)
Angry about their daughter’s actions, her punishment continued at home where her parents
grounded her for a month. (9) Finally, Karen told a story about a classmate named Greta. Since
Greta had just moved from another state, she did not have any friends. (10) Being taller than any
of her classmates, the class bullies called Greta mean names like “Gawky Greta.” (11) Going out to
recess one day, it began to snow. (12) As usual, the bullies picked on Greta mercilessly. (13) They
tied her to the swings and left her out in the cold with evil laughs when the recess bell rang. (14)
The teachers found her a half hour later, and the bullies got in a lot of trouble with the principal.
(15) When Karen ran into Greta a couple years ago, she discovered that Greta had become a
gorgeous, rich model in New York City. (16) Looking back on her past, the bullies are not the ones
Spending the evening together recently, a group of friends were talking about their
most embarrassing moments in high school. Pauline volunteered to tell her
embarrassing story first. Bouncing on the trampoline in gym class, her shorts fell down
to her ankles. Lin decided to share her embarrassing moment next. She recalled that
she was caught cheating while taking a biology test. She had written the answers to the
test on her fingernails. As punishment, Lin had to write, “I will never cheat again,” one
hundred times on the board. Angry about their daughter’s actions, her punishment
continued at home where her parents grounded her for a month. Finally, Karen told a
story about a classmate named Greta. Since Greta had just moved from another state,
she did not have any friends. Being taller than any of her classmates, the class bullies
called Greta mean names like “Gawky Greta.” Going out to recess one day, it began to
snow. As usual, the bullies picked on Greta mercilessly. They tied her to the swings and
left her out in the cold with evil laughs when the recess bell rang. The teachers found
her a half hour later, and the bullies got in a lot of trouble with the principal. When
Karen ran into Greta a couple years ago, she discovered that Greta had become a
gorgeous, rich model in New York City. Looking back on her past, the bullies are not the
ones laughing now.
 (1) Spending the evening together recently, a group of friends were talking about their
most embarrassing moments in high school. (2) Pauline volunteered to tell her
embarrassing the first story. (3) Bouncing on the trampoline in gym class, She fell
down her shorts to her ankles. (4) Lin decided to share her embarrassing next moment.
(5) She recalled that she was caught cheating while taking a biology test. (6) She had
written the answers to the test on her fingernails. (7) As punishment, Lin had to write,
“I will never cheat again,” one hundred times on the board. (8) While she was angry
about their daughter’s actions, her punishment continued at home where her parents
grounded her for a month.(9) Finally, Karen told a story about a classmate named Greta.
(10) Since Greta had just moved from another state, she did not have any friends. (11)
Being taller than any of her classmates, the class bullies called Greta mean names like
“Gawky Greta.” one day , going out to recess, it began to snow. (11) As usual, the bullies
picked on Greta mercilessly. (12) They tied her to the swings and left her out in the cold
with evil laughs when the recess bell rang. (13) A half hour later , the teachers found
her, and the bullies got in a lot of trouble with the principal. (14) Years ago, when Karen
ran into Greta a couple , she discovered that Greta had become a gorgeous, rich model
in New York City. Looking back on her past, the bullies are not the ones laughing now.
 Paragraph
Example-3:
Pattern : S + LV (Be) + Subject Compliment + Adv!
Indraprasta PGRI University is a big private university in Jakarta.
S LV Subject Compliment Adv

Topic Indraprasta PGRI University

Controlling Idea a big private University
Topic Sentence Indraprasta PGRI University is
a big private university in
 Paragraph
Sub Topics Sub Ideas
The total students 40.000
The sum of lecturers 1700
Buildings 8
Parking lots large
Library Complete
Laboratories Complete
Faculty 7
 Paragraph

Supporting Sentence 1
Supporting Sentence 2
Supporting Sentence 3
Supporting Sentence 4
Supporting Sentence 5
Supporting Sentence 6
Supporting Sentence 7
 Paragraph
Indraprasta PGRI University
(TS) Indraprasta PGRI University is a big private university in
Jakarta.
( SS1)
( SS2)
( SS3)
( SS4)
( SS5)
( SS6)
( SS7)
(CS)
 Paragraph
Indraprasta PGRI University
(TS) Indraprasta PGRI University is a big private university in
Jakarta. ( SS1) There are 6 faculties in Unindra. (MjSS) The faculties
are: FBS, Mathletics, Economic, Tethnic , IT, and History. (MnSS) Each
faculty has study program.

( SS3)
( SS4)
( SS5)
( SS6)
( SS7)
(CS)
 Paragraph
Indraprasta PGRI University
(TS) Indraprasta PGRI University is a big private university in
Jakarta.

( SS1) I have a kind brother, Jack (MjSS) He is 28 years old (MnSS) he

was born on the ………….

Detail sentensences
( SS2)
( SS3)
( SS4)
 Paragraph
Friends
(GS1) Friend . ……….( GS2) Frieds…….. (GS3) ……… (TS) I have
three closed friend in my life:

(TS) Putri …… 4 sentences (3 SS & CS)

(TS) Dian ……. 4 sentences (3 SS & CS)

(TS) Sir. Napit……. 4 sentences (3 SS & CS)

(CP) ……. 5 sentences

 32

FINISH & Complete !!!

‘ THANKS ‘