Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers Worksheet

A modifier is a wonderful tool. Without modifiers, you could never say that a pretty girl took home a happy dog or that a nice boy bought a yummy popsicle. In case you didn't get it from the italics, a modifier is a word or phrase that provides more information about something being discussed in the sentence. Modifiers are usually adjectives (words that describe nouns or pronouns) or adverbs (words that describe verbs, adjectives and other adverbs).

Although modifiers can be great, sometimes they can also get lost or put in the wrong place in a sentence. When this happens, things can get very confusing! The following worksheet demonstrates some misplaced and dangling modifiers. Some additional links are also provided to additional worksheets to help make sure you really understand the concept!

Examples of Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers

A misplaced modifier is in a modifier that is in the wrong place. For example:

• The pretty girl fast ran. Fast is modifying girl, so it is misplaced.
• Hoping it would rain, the umbrella was brought by Ann. Hoping it would rain is modifying Ann, since Ann is the person who was hoping it would rain. As written, this sentence makes it sound as though the umbrella was hoping it would rain. While an umbrella might very well hope for such a thing, umbrellas aren't really capable of hoping and so the sentence is illogical.

A dangling modifier modifies something that never actually appears in the sentence. For example:

• Hoping it would rain, the umbrella was brought. In this sentence, there isn't a single person mentioned who has the ability to hope it would rain. The subject being modified is missing entirely and the modifier is left dangling all by itself.

Worksheet for Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers

Now that we have reviewed what a misplaced and dangling modifier is, here is a quick worksheet to help you grasp the concept.

Five sentences are listed below. Label whether the sentence is a misplaced modifier (M), a dangling modifier (D) or correct. The answers are at the bottom.

1. Always eager for cake, the birthday party was attended by everyone.

2. Forgetting that the microphone was on, the whole audience heard the singer's fight with his wife.

3. Wagging her tail, the new puppy climbed into my lap.

4. After painting all day, the bright new watercolor was drying in the sunshine.

5. Late as always, Mike made quite an entrance when he came to the party.

Answers to Worksheet

1. (M) This is a misplaced modifier. Always eager for cake is modifying everyone.

2. (M) This is also a misplaced modifier. The singer is the person who forgot the microphone was on.

3. (C) This is correct. The puppy was the one wagging her tail.

4. (D) This is a dangling modifier. We have no idea who or what painted all day.

5. (C) This is correct. Mike is the person who was late as always. 

Links to More Worksheets for Misplaced or Dangling Modifiers

• Dangling Modifiers Self Test - Contains a simple worksheet constructed by the Student Learning Assistance Center or SLAC. Worksheets come with instructions for several other activities. The worksheet also comes with an answer key. 
• MIT Dangling Modifier Worksheet - Contains exercises that test your ability to revise sentences with misplaced and dangling modifiers.
• Sinclair Handouts - Contains several examples of dangling and misplaced modifiers for review, followed by an exercise worksheet. 
• ELearning - In their sample worksheet, you can examine different unclear sentences in which the confusion can be corrected by relocating the modifier or by restoring the subject of the dependant clause. The website also contains sample activities that can be performed in the classroom setting.
• Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers Worksheets - This PDF first offers a short review on misplaced and dangling modifiers with accompanying examples, followed by practice worksheets.