Dangling Participles

Dangling Participle Definition

A dangling participle can cause quite a bit of confusion (and maybe some unintended humor!) in one’s writing. A dangling participle occurs when a participial phrase is not followed by a noun that it can modify.

Example of a Dangling Participle

Some examples of dangling participles would be the following:

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Deleting the last of the spam emails, my inbox was finally clean.

Correction: Deleting the last of the spam emails, I had finally cleaned my inbox.

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After spending all day playing in the snow, the crackling fireplace brought much needed warmth.

Correction: After spending all day playing in the snow, we received some much needed warmth from the crackling fireplace.

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Taking the last bite of turkey from Thanksgiving dinner, a long nap would surely follow.

Correction: Taking the last bite of turkey from Thanksgiving dinner, I would surely be in for a long nap.

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