What is a Modifier—and How Can it Dangle? A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that changes (or modifies) the meaning of another word, phrase, or clause. A dangling modifier is a modifier that is ...

Modifiers are single words or phrases that modify other words or phrases. Position a modifier to make it clear what it modifies. If you keep sentences short and simple and use active voice, you ...

This most famous of danglers is must-know stuff for any self-respecting smartypants. Not because the concept will help your writing all that much. Many people write just fine without the first clue ...

The New Yorker published an article last November by staff writer Rebecca Mead on the growing popularity of podcasts. It began this way: “In 1936, Walter Benjamin, the German philosopher and cultural ...

Here's a grab bag of gifts for those who want to remove common errors from their writing. Common error No. 1: Misuse of a plural verb. "In the end, neither the ...

I was sitting on my back porch, listening to the drumbeat of a summer downpour, when I heard a voice. With the next flash of lightning, I saw a man standing at my door. “Hey, Doc,” he said, “let me in ...

- a word or phrase apparently modifying an unintended word because of its placement in a sentence: e.g., `when young' in `when young, circuses appeal to all of us' ...