dangling modifiers

   are one of the more complicated and disagreeable aspects of English usage, but at least they provide some compensation by being frequently amusing. Every authority has a stock of illustrative howlers. Fowler, for instance, gives us "Handing me my whisky, his face broke into an awkward smile" (that rare thing, a face that can pass whisky), while Bernstein offers "Although sixty-one years old when he wore the original suit, his waist was only thirty-five" and "When dipped in melted butter or Hollandaise sauce, one truly deserves the food of the gods."

   Most often, dangling modifiers are caused by unattached present participles. But they can also involve past and perfect participles, appositive phrases, clauses, infinitives, or simple adjectives. Occasionally the element to be modified is missing altogether: "As reconstructed by the police, Pfeffer at first denied any knowledge of the Byrd murder" (cited by Bern-

   *Strictly speaking, only adverbs modify; nouns and adjectives qualify. But because the usage problems are essentially the same for all the parts of speech, I have collected them under the heading by which they are most commonly, if not quite accurately, known. stein). It was not, of course, Pfeffer that was reconstructed by the police, but the facts or story or some other noun that is only implied.

   Regardless of the part of speech at fault, there is in every dangling modifier a failure by the writer to say what he means because of a simple mispositioning of words. Consider this example: "Slim, of medium height, and with sharp features, Mr. Smiths technical skills are combined with strong leadership qualities" (New York Times). As written, the sentence is telling us that Mr. Smiths technical skills are slim and of medium height. It needs to be recast as "Slim, of medium height, and with sharp features, he combines technical skills with strong leadership qualities" or words to that effect (but see non sequitur).

   Or consider this sentence from Time magazine: "In addition to being cheap and easily obtainable, Crotti claims that the bags have several advantages over other methods." We can reasonably assume that it is not Crotti that is cheap and easily obtainable but the bags. Again, recasting is needed: "In addition to being cheap and easily obtainable, the bags have several advantages over other methods, Crotti claims" (but see claim).

   William and Mary Morris offer a simple remedy to the problem of dangling modifiers-namely, that after having written the modifying phrase or clause, you should make sure that the next word is the one to which the modifier pertains. That is sound enough advice, but like so much else in English usage, it will take you only so far.

   To begin with, a number of participial phrases have the effect of prepositions or conjunctions, and you may dangle them as you will without breaking any rules. They include generally speaking, concerning, regarding, judging, owing to, failing, speaking of and many others. Certain stock phrases and idiomatic constructions also flout the rule but are still acceptable, such as "putting two and two together" and "getting down to brass tacks."

   It is this multiplicity of exceptions that makes the subject so difficult. If I write, "As the author of this book, let me say this," am I perpetrating a dangling modifier or simply resorting to idiom? It depends very much on which authority you consult.

   It is perhaps also worth noting that opprobrium for the dangling modifier is not universal. Bergen and Cornelia Evans, after asserting that the problem has been common among good writers at least since Chaucer, call the rule banning its use "pernicious" and add that "no one who takes it as inviolable can write good English." They maintain that the problem with sentences such as "Handing me my whisky, his face broke into a broad grin" is not that the participle is dangling, but rather that it isn't. It sounds absurd only because "his face" is so firmly attached to the participial phrase. But when a note of absurdity is not sounded, they say, the sentence should be allowed to pass.

   They are certainly right to caution against becoming obsessed with dangling modifiers, but there is, I think, a clearer need than they allow to watch out for them. Certainly if you find yourself writing a phrase that permits the merest hint of incongruity, it is time to recast your sentence.