Belajar Dangling Modifiers Bahasa Inggris
A modifier must have something to modify. A dangling modifier has nothing to modify because the word it should logically modify is not present in its sentence. For example:
Driving through the mountains, three bears were seen.
Driving through the mountains is a participial phrase that can modify anything capable of driving. The sentence says that the bears are driving, but common sense tells us bears can’t drive. Although the writer surely meant that the bears were seen by some person who was driving, the sentence contains no words directly identifying such a person.
Dangling modifiers can occur in mixed constructions where a writer begins a sentence as if he or she intends to use an active verb in the main clause but finishes it by shifting to a passive-voice verb instead.
The simple sentence above is a good
illustration of such a shift. Here is another example of a shift that results
in a dangling elliptical clause. This one was printed in a financial journal.
When asked to explain why they borrowed money from a particular bank, previous good experience and low interest rates were most frequently mentioned as reasons.
If the sentence is rewritten in the active voice, the dangling modifier will disappear:
When asked to explain why they borrowed money from a particular bank, people most frequently mentioned previous good experience and low interest rates as reasons.
Dangling modifiers may be verbal or prepositional phrases or elliptical clauses. They most commonly come at the beginning of a sentence, but they can come at the end as well. To write There were three bears, driving through the mountains still leaves the bears apparently doing the driving. Nothing is expressed that driving can sensibly modify. Nor is When a baby, my grandfather gave me a silver cup improved by moving the clause to the end of the sentence.
Eliminate dangling modifiers (1) by reworking the sentence so that an appropriate word is provided for the modifier to modify or (2) by expanding the dangler into a full subordinate clause. The sentence in the illustration, for example, can be revised as follows:
While driving through the mountains, we saw three bears.
As we were driving
through the mountains, we saw three bears.
Through a writer’s carelessness, dangling modifiers can slip into writing, especially when an appropriate object for the modifier is present in an adjacent sentence but not in the sentence containing the dangler.
Consider this paragraph from a campus newspaper:
While wearing a Halloween mask and carrying a handgun, a man entered Marsh Pharmacy and asked for all of the narcotics, said Fran Reinhart, a temporary Marsh employee. According to Reinhart, he was filling in for another pharmacist when a man came up to the desk. Wearing a green mask and overalls, Reinhart estimated his height at about six feet and his weight at about 150 pounds
.
Presumably the would-be thief,
rather than Reinhart, was wearing the green mask and the overalls. The reporter
forgot that a modifier and the word it modifies need to be located in the same
sentence.
According to Reinhart, he was filling in for another pharmacist when a man wearing a green mask and overalls came up to the desk.
Avoid dangling participial phrases
A participle is a verb form usually
ending in –ing or –ed and used as an adjective to modify a
noun or pronoun. A participial phrase consists of a participle, its object, and
any modifiers of the participle or object.
The fact that participial phrases can be moved away from the
nouns they modify creates the condition for a particular grammatical error
known as a dangling participial or
dangling modifier. A dangling modifier is an out-and-out grammatical error.
The error results from incorrectly formed modifying participial. A participle
is said to dangle when it is not properly attached to the noun that it
apparently modifies. When a participial phrase is moved to the beginning of the
sentence, we assume that the participial phrase modifies the subject—the
nearest noun. However, when participial phrase does not literally modify the
subject, then the participle is dangling. Here is an example of a dangling
participle (participial phrase in italics):
DANGLING Coming home late, the house was dark. [There is nothing in the
sentence that can sensibly be coming home. A revision must identify some
person.]
REVISED Coming home late, we found the house was
dark.
When
we came home late, the house was dark.
To avoid misplaced (dangling) participial phrase, we must usually pay attention to the following:
“The subject of a
participial phrase is usually a noun or pronoun in the main clause.” (Marcella
Frank, 1972:305) Lester and Beason also said that “Multiword participial
phrases—participles together with modifiers and/or complements—follow the nouns they modify.” As Pat
Belanoff (1993:78) emphasized that “Clarify is promoted when a writer keeps all
modifiers as close as possible to what they modify.”
From the quotations above, we can learn one important thing,
that is, to avoid dangling participial phrase, place modifiers near the words
they modify.
Avoid dangling phrases that contain gerunds
A gerund is an –ing form of
a verb used as a noun. A gerund phrase consists of a gerund, its object, and
any modifiers of the gerund or object. In typical dangling phrases that contain
gerunds, the gerund or gerund phrase serves as the object of a preposition.
DANGLING Before exploring the desert, our water supply was replenished.
[Who replenished it?]
REVISED Before exploring the desert, we replenished our water supply.
DANGLING After putting a worm on my hook, the fish began to bite.
[A very accommodating fish that will bait the hook for you]
REVISED After I put a worm on my hook, the fish began to bite.
DANGLING Before exploring the desert, our water supply was replenished.
[Who replenished it?]
REVISED Before exploring the desert, we replenished our water supply.
DANGLING After putting a worm on my hook, the fish began to bite.
[A very accommodating fish that will bait the hook for you]
REVISED After I put a worm on my hook, the fish began to bite.
Avoid dangling infinitive phrase
An infinitive consists of the infinitive marker to followed by the plain form of the verb. An infinitive phrase
consists of an infinitive, its object, and any modifiers of the infinitive or
object.
DANGLING To take good pictures, a good camera must be used. [Who will use the camera?]
REVISED To take good pictures, you must
use a good camera.
If
you wish to take good pictures, you must use a good camera.
DANGLING To skate well, practice is necessary.
REVISED To skate well, you [or one] must
practice.
Avoid dangling elliptical clauses
An elliptical clause is one in which the subject or verb is implied or
understood rather than stated. The clause dangles if its implied subject is not
the same as the subject of the main clause. Eliminate a dangling elliptical
clause by (1) making the dangling clause agree with the subject of the main
clause or (2) supplying the omitted subject or verb.
DANGLING When a baby, my grandfather gave me a silver cup.
REVISED When a baby, I was given a silver cup by my grandfather. [The subject of the main clause agrees with the implied subject of the elliptical clause.]
When I was a baby, my grandfather gave
me a silver cup. [The omitted subject and verb are supplied in the elliptical
clause.
DANGLING While rowing on the lake, the boat overturned.
DANGLING While rowing on the lake, the boat overturned.
REVISED While rowing on the lake, we overturned
the boat. [The subject of the main
clause agrees with the implied subject of the elliptical clause.]
While we were rowing on the lake, the boat overturned [or we overturned the boat].
[The elliptical clause is expanded into a subordinate clause.]
If you want to develop your deeper understanding of dangling modifiers, please do dangling modifier exercise 1 or dangling modifier exercise 2.
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