How to Avoid Danglers on the GMAT

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A key to Scoring High on the GMAT

One of the most common errors in Sentence Correction on the GMAT is an incorrect, or dangling,  modifier. These modifiers are often hard to detect. However, it is crucial to detect them if you want to score high on the GMAT. This blog attempts to eliminate confusion and frustration of students  who are familiar with dangling modifiers.

What are Dangling Modifiers, or "Danglers"?

A dangler is a phrase that is used at the start of a sentence to describe something, but that something is not the subject doing the main action of the sentence. Since dangling modifiers don't attach to what comes right after them, they "dangle." The result is that they can be read as describing the subject of the sentence when they actually don't, which can be funny or just confusing. Let's see some examples.

• Born at the age of forty-five, the baby was a great comfort to Mrs. Wheaton. [As the sentence is structured, the baby--not his mother--was forty-five. The opening phrase, born at the age of forty-five, is attached to the baby, so that is what it describes.]

The Usual Suspect

Watch out for an ing word if it's near the front of a sentence. Most likely, it is a dangling modifier. To find it, ask a whodunit question. Who is doing the talking, reading, singing, walking, etc? You may be surprised by what you find. Often, the danglers are participles.

With Present Participles

• Walking down the street, the Statue of Liberty appeared. [It was not the statue that was walking.]

With Past Participles

• Trapped underwater, John recounted his miraculous rescue. [Well, John was not trapped at the time he recounted it.]

With Prepositional Phrases

Often prepositions, a words that show position or direction, can lead your astray.

• With his silver trim and deep blue color, Tom found his car. [Does Tom have the silver trim and deep blue color or the car?]
• [Incorrect] At the age of ten, my father bought me a cat. [Did the father buy the cat when he was ten? Or is the son ten years old?]
• [Correct] At the age of ten, I got a cat from my father.
  

Pin the Tail on the Donkey

Often adjectives get pinned to the wrong part of a sentence and become danglers.

• [Incorrect] Sluggish and overweight, the vet said our dog needed more exercise. [The description sluggish and overweight should be pinned on the dog and not the vet.]
• [Correct] Sluggish and overweight, our dog needed more exercise, the vet said.

Hitch your Wagon

A dangling adverb at the front of a sentence is similar to a horse that's hitched to the wrong wagon. Such adverbs are easy to spot because they often end in 'ly'. When you see one, make sure it is hitched to the right verb. 

• [Incorrect] Miraculously we watched as the surgeon operated with a simple tweezer.
• [Correct] Miraculously, the surgeon operated with a simple tweezer as he watched.

The Infinitive Trouble

Some of the hardest danglers to see begin with to.A sentence that starts with an infinitive (a verb usually preceded by to, like to say, to laugh) cannot be left to dangle. The opening phrase has to be attached to whoever or whatever is performing the action. 

• [Incorrect] To crack an egg properly, the yolk is be left intact. [The way it is structured, the yolk is the one doing the cracking.]
• [Correct] To crack an egg properly, you must leave the yolk intact.
• [Correct} To crack an egg properly, leave the yolk intact.

Likely Problems

Can't find a dangler? It might hiding as a 'like' or as an 'unlike'. Consider this likely example.

• [Incorrect] Like Kim, Eva's house was expensive. [The phrase like Kim is a dangler because it's attached the wrong thing: Eva's house. Is Eva or her house like Kim?]
• [Correct] Like Kim, Eva paid a lot of money for her house.
• [Correct] Like Kim's Eva's house was expensive. [Note we are comparing the right things here.]

Source: Woe is I, by Patricia T. O'Conner