A dangling modifier — Sentence Correction Aptitude Question
A dangling modifier: Choose the correct sentence: Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Sentence Correction
- Section: Verbal Ability
- Difficulty: Medium
- Time target: 55 seconds
Question
Choose the correct sentence:
Options
- Walking through the park, the flowers looked beautiful.
- Walking through the park, she thought the flowers looked beautiful.
- Walking through the park, the beauty of flowers was seen.
- The flowers looked beautiful, walking through the park.
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. Walking through the park, she thought the flowers looked beautiful.
Worked solution
- The introductory phrase attaches to whatever noun comes next.
- Only in the second sentence is that noun she, who can actually walk.
Answer: Walking through the park, she thought the flowers looked beautiful.
The idea
After an introductory participial phrase, check the very next noun. If it could not perform the action, the modifier dangles.
Shortcut. Ask 'who was walking?' and check the noun straight after the comma. Flowers and 'the beauty' cannot walk, and the fourth option hangs the phrase on the flowers again; only 'she' can do the walking.
Common trap. "Walking through the park, the flowers looked beautiful." — the meaning is obvious, so the error slips past, but grammatically it says the flowers were walking through the park.