A dangling participle is a participle that modifies an unintended part of a sentence due to its placement. It can cause confusion and alter the meaning of a sentence. Usually, writers avoid them, but in some cases, a rewrite may not be necessary depending on the context.
A dangling participle is a specific instance of a dangling modifier. It involves a participle that is placed in a sentence in such a way as to modify an unintended part of the sentence. Simply put, the writer intends for the participle to modify one part of the sentence, but because of where the writer places the participle, he actually modifies another part of the sentence or confuses readers as to which part he should modify. A dangling participle can be an individual participle or a phrase participle. Usually, grammar experts advise writers to rewrite sentences with dangling participles, but depending on factors such as the context surrounding the sentence, a rewrite may not be necessary.
In English grammar, participles are verbs that act as adjectives. Once they start behaving like adjectives, these verbs become participles. Usually, verbs that act as adjectives take on an “-ing” ending. Examples of verbs that act as participles include walking, swimming, and shopping. These words are all verbs, but they can also be used to modify nouns in a sentence, such as “walkway,” “swimming pool,” and “mall.”
A participle becomes a dangling participle when a writer places it in the wrong place within a sentence. Putting the participle in the wrong position causes it to change an unwanted part of the sentence. Often, that position is at the beginning of a sentence, but that’s not a rule.
Usually, the participle or participle phrase is assumed to modify the subject within the neighboring phrase. For example, within the sentence “Walking through the dark corridor, the shadows follow me”, the participle sentence is “walking through the dark corridor”. The subject of the following sentence is “the shadows”. However, the shadows aren’t crossing the aisle, so even though the participle is modifying the subject, it’s modifying the wrong part of the sentence. Rewriting the sentence to “Walking the dark corridor, I feel the shadows following me” changes the subject to “I” and allows the participle to change the correct part of the sentence.
A dangling participle can cause confusion and even completely alter the meaning of a sentence. Generally, grammarians advise against using a dangling participle. Usually, writers work to avoid them and will rewrite their sentences when they, or their editors, find them.
Occasionally, there will be an instance where the rewritten sentence makes less sense, or becomes awkward, once the dangling participle is removed. Such an instance can arise in both formal and informal writing and speaking, and especially during fictional pieces when rewriting the sentence would make it sound more formal than the narrator or a character would normally speak. Typically, a writer and his editor will determine which participle form, correct or dangling, best fits the overall context.
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