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CORRECTING DANGLING MODIFIERS The following sentence contains dangling modifiers. Rewrite the incorrect sentence so that the meaning is clear.

Example

1.

While waiting at the bus stop, the neon sign across the street fascinated me.


While waiting at the bus stop, I was fascinated by the neon sign across the street.


Overdrawn at the bank, Sal’s finances were in disarray

Verified Answer :

oliviakaec

Because Sal was overdrawn at the bank, his finances were is disarray

mcarc09

Answer:

There are a few possible ways to change this sentence and eliminate the dangling modifier:

-Sal was overdrawn at the bank, so his finances were in disarray.

-Because Sal was overdrawn at the bank, his finances were in disarray - this one was suggested by the person before me :)

- Since he was overdrawn at the bank, Sal ended up with his finances in disarray.

Explanation:

A dangling modifier creates ambiguity in the sentence, since it can be misinterpreted as referring to something when it should refer to something else. We can usually eliminate the ambiguity by changing the modifier's position or by adding a few words to the sentence in order to make it clearer.

In "Overdrawn at the bank, Sal's finances were in disarray", the dangling modifier is "overdrawn at the bank". It is not clear if it is Sal or if it is his finances that are overdrawn at the bank. Having chosen to say that it is Sal who is overdrawn, the following options could help end the ambiguity:

-Sal was overdrawn at the bank, so his finances were in disarray.

-Because Sal was overdrawn at the bank, his finances were in disarray - this one was suggested by the person before me :)

- Since he was overdrawn at the bank, Sal ended up with his finances in disarray.

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