002 DANGLING PARTICIPLE

Dangling participles are also known as dangling modifiers.

This is a favorite topic of the question-paper-setters and examiners of various English proficiency tests and examinations. Questions on the topic regularly appear in tests, with the caption 'Identify the part in which there is an error' or 'Correct the error in the following sentence'.

1. Participle = Verbal adjective. (Use of verb as adjective).
2. Present participle = Participle in present tense. E. g. moving train. 'Moving' is the present participle. It is the adjective for the noun train.
3. Dangling = hanging loosely.
4. When does a participle dangle?
An adjective or a participle should be as close as possible to the noun it modifies. The right place for it is just before the noun. The adjective may mislead that it is modifying the noun 'y' instead of the noun 'x', if the distance is more. Consequently an awkward meaning may result.

E.g. : Walking on the road, a lorry hit him.

Who was walking on the road? He was walking on the road. The pronoun 'him' is at the end of the sentence. 'Lorry' is more proximate to the adjective-(present-participle) 'walking'. Readers, during quick reads, may get a dazzled impression that 'lorry was walking'. The reader has to spend a little more time, to deduce the correct meaning. We may have to reset the sentence as under:

While (he) was walking on the road, he was hit by a lorry.
While he was walking on the road, a lorry hit him.

I, personally prefer to start the sentence using Subject + Verb + Object + time adverbial clause. We can take into account the American preferences for 'active voice. We can go for a third alternative as under:

A lorry him, while he was walking on the road.

Another example:

Standing near the fence, a snake bit him.

We have to apply the same logic, as above: Who was standing near the fence? He or the snake?
We have to revise the sentence to improve clarity.

When he was standing near the fence, a snake bit him.
When he was standing near the fence, he was bit by a snake.
He was bit by a snake, when/while he was standing near the fence.
A snake bit him, when/while he was standing near the fence. (etc.)

AN EXAMPLE FROM GMAT QUESTIONS

Although just inside the orbit of Jupiter, amateur astronomers with good telescopes should be able to see the comet within the next few weeks.
(A) Although just inside the orbit of
(B)Although it is just inside the orbit of
(C) Just inside the orbit of
(D) Orbiting just inside
(E) Having orbited just inside
Ans : b. This is a good example of dangling participle.
Who is inside the orbit? It is not the astronomer? It is the comet.