Pesky writing problem...

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Pesky writing problem...

by Donna
(Sarnia, Ontario, Canada)

Hi So on your writer's help page you used the example of the incorrectly written sentence,"Patting the baby's back, she burped." (When written this way, it implies the person patting the babies back burped, instead of the intended baby burping.) How could this sentence be better written, using your advice regarding sentences beginning with an "ing" word?

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Oct 14, 2008

Fixing the Dangling Modifier
by: Audrey

The problem with a dangling modifier has to do with its relationship to the sentence subject. Here's how I would fix the burping baby sentence.

The baby burped after she patted its back. (The baby is the subject and the baby is clearly burping.)

OR

She patted the baby's back until it burped. (The person doing the patting is the subject.) Note that in this case, using the pronoun she for the baby could also cause some confusion, but that confusion would be due to the fact that pronouns refer back to the most recent noun. In real life, I would be rewording the surrounding material to get rid of all confusion.

OR

Patting the baby's back made her burp. (Patting the baby's back is the subject. The verb is made.)

This is only a sample of how to make the point clearly.

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