Dangling Modifiers

(部份 from: 英文由F字學起)


Definition: A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence.

Consider this sentence:

Having finished the assignment, Jill turned on the TV.

"Having finished" states an action but does not name the doer of that action. In English sentences, the doer must be the subject of the main clause that follows. In this sentence, it is Jill. She seems logically to be the one doing the action ("having finished"), and this sentence therefore does not have a dangling modifier.

Now consider this sentence:

Having finished the assignment, the TV set was turned on.

Having finished is a participle expressing action, but the doer is not the TV set (the subject of the main clause): TV sets don't finish assignments. Since the doer of the action expressed in the participle has not been clearly stated, the participial phrase is said to be a dangling modifier.

Examples of dangling modifiers and revisions:

dangling modifier:

After reading the original study, the article remains unconvincing. (The article--the subject of the main clause--did not read the original study.)

possible revisions:

After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing.
-or-
The article remains unconvincing in light of the original study.

dangling modifier:

Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, your home should be a place to relax. (Your home--the subject of the main clause--is not relieved of your responsibilities.)

possible revision:

Relieved of your responsibilities at your job, you should be able to relax at home.

Characteristics of dangling modifiers:

They most frequently occur at the beginning of sentences but can also appear at the end.

dangling modifier at end of sentence:

The experiment was a failure, having not studied the lab manual carefully. (The experiment--the subject of the main clause--did not study the lab manual.)

possible revision:

The experiment was a failure because they had not studied the lab manual carefully.

They often have an -ing word or a to+verb phrase near the start of the sentence.

Squinting modifiers:

Related to dangling modifiers, squinting modifiers occur when the word modified is not clear or could be more than one word. These problems can usually be solved by rearranging the elements already present in the sentence.

squinting modifier:

The mystery has been solved after ten years of the missing portrait.

possible revisions:

After ten years, the mystery of the missing portrait has been solved.
The mystery of the missing portrait has been solved after ten years.

Strategies for revising dangling modifiers:

1. Name the appropriate or logical doer of the action as the subject of the main clause:

·        dangling modifier: Having arrived late for practice, a written excuse was needed.

·        possible revision: Having arrived late for practice, the captain of the team needed a written excuse.

2. Name the doer of the action in the phrase that dangles:

·        dangling modifier: Without knowing his name, it was difficult to introduce him.

·        possible revision: Because Maria did not know his name, it was difficult to introduce him.

3. Combine the phrase and main clause into one:

·        dangling modifier: To improve his results, the experiment was done again.

·        possible revision: He improved his results by doing the experiment again.

最近收到電訊公司的優惠單張，無聊看看，發現又有教材，不過今次是反面的。這單張有一部份介紹語言教育產品，有兩句特別礙眼：

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

1. You can also enrich your children's lingual knowledge by learning correct pronunciations in English, Putonghua and Cantonese...

2. Improve your youngster's command of Chinese and English by reading Chinese news as well as listening to a variety of English articles.

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

暫且不談「enrich lingual knowledge」（*註）這些奇怪用字，我們只看文法。以上兩句，都犯了修飾部跟主句 subject（主語）不相符的錯誤。

一般情況下，修飾語應該跟主句中的 subject 相符。請看例句：

Example 1：Stunned by her beauty, I couldn't say a word.

大意：她的美貌迷得我神暈顛倒，目定口呆。

主句「I couldn't say a word」的 subject 是「I」；修飾部「Stunned by her beauty」的 implied subject（隱含主語）也是「I」（因為是「我」被嚇得目定口呆」）。這就是我所說的「修飾語符合主句 subject」。

假如寫成：Showing her beauty, I couldn't say a word. 就非常奇怪了，因為修飾部「Showing her beauty」的隱含主語，是「她」，不是「我」（只有「她」才能「展示美貌」）。這跟主句「I couldn't say a word」格格不入，應該改寫。

再來一例。

Example 2：I made her cry by calling her a bitch.

大意：我稱她為「八婆」，弄哭了她。

這句沒有問題，修飾部「calling her a bitch」的隱含主語是「我」，跟主句相符。

即使改寫為：I made her cry by telling her she's become a bitch，雖然較為纍贅，但文法沒有問題，原因同上。

但假如寫成：I made her cry by becoming a bitch. 就古怪到極了（勉強仍說得通，但意思完全不同。）

明白了吧? 那麼，宣傳單張的病句，有勞大家改寫。

蕭愷一

*註：「Enrich your children's lingual knowldge」不是英文。簡單說句「improve your children's langauge skills」就可以了；就算真的要講「語言知識」，那是「knowledge of langauge」或「linguistic knowledge」，不是甚麼「lingual knowledge」。

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昨天在南華早報看到一篇關於年輕性罪犯人數增加的報導，文中有一句這樣寫：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases in a one year period in 2006-07, 19 of which were under the age of 19.

句子意思是某團體公佈，在零六到零七年間接收到六十一宗性侵犯個案，其中十九宗的犯者不足十九歲。仔細一讀，大家能看出這句有甚麼文法問題嗎?

作者墮入了極常見的文法陷阱：關係子句內的主語跟子句描述的名詞不相符。子句「19 of which were under the age of 19」所描述的，是主句中的賓語「61 sexual abuse cases」；但子句中「十九歲以下」的明顯是犯者而非案件，所以這句文法並不完整。要把它改正，只要把關係子句中的主語改成子句描述的名詞就可以了（註）：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases in a one year period in 2006-07, 19 of which involved offenders under the age of 19.

這樣改寫，子句中的主語就和主句中的名詞相符了：

[The group] reported receiving 61 sexual abuse cases.

19 of the 61 sexual abuse cases involved offenders under the age of 19.

對文法要求嚴格的人更可能會指出，為免混淆意思，關係子句應緊接它所描述的名詞。另外，還有網友正確的指出，作形容詞用的 one year 兩字之間應加上 hyphen。所以這句還可這樣改寫：

[The group] reported that, within a one-year period in 2006-07, it received 61 sexual abuse cases, 19 of which involved offenders under the age of 19.

這樣就無從挑剔了。

註：在非常正式的文體中，還可以這樣改寫：...... 19 of whose offenders were under the age of 16.。不過這個寫法給人迂腐的感覺，而且容易寫錯，所以讀得明白就可以了，不必勉強學寫。

後記：

相信有不少同學對 19 of which, all of whom, none of which 等關係子句的用法有疑惑。我有時間會跟大家談談。大家可暫時看我以前錄製的影片：十分鐘 Grammar 精讀班 -- Relative Clause 高階。所談的用法十分接近。

http://hk.myblog.yahoo.com/siu82english/article?mid=65