Dangling, Misplaced, and Squinting Modifiers

Occasionally, you may inadvertently use a dangling or misplaced modifier in
speech, and it might create a laugh. Examine the nonstandard sentence below.
Nonstandard
Covered with red and white tissue paper, Nura appreciated the homemade
valentine.
What’s humorous about this sentence is that the descriptive phrase (the modifier)
“covered with red and white tissue paper” is closer to the noun “Nura” rather than
the “homemade valentine,” and thus it appears that Nura was the one decorated
with colorful paper.
Standard
Nura appreciated the homemade valentine, which was covered with red and
white tissue paper.
To correct the misuse, the modifier was moved to the end of the sentence, and to
be especially clear, the words “which was” were added.
Here are some more examples.
Nonstandard
Being only three years old at the time, the car didn’t scare me too much.
What or who was “three years old at the time”? Probably not the car!
Guide to Editing Essentials 51
Standard Sentences
Because I was only three years old at the time, the car didn’t scare me too
much.
Three years old at the time, I wasn’t too scared of the car.
The first way to fix the dangling or misplaced modifier was adding a subject “I” to
the modifier in the sentence. The second way was to add a nearby noun for the
modifier to describe.
Nonstandard
Almost a hundred years after he died, Nicholas Rowe wrote one of the first
biographies of Shakespeare.
It appears that Nicholas Rowe was a ghost when he wrote Shakespeare’s
biography.
Standard
Almost a hundred years after Shakespeare died, Nicholas Rowe wrote one of
his first biographies.
This last one was changed by replacing the pronoun in the modifier.
Squinting modifiers are ambiguous. Unlike dangling and misplaced modifiers,
they are not obviously describing the wrong noun, but instead you as the reader see
multiple options that they could be describing.
Nonstandard: Ambiguous
The car that was backfiring loudly crashed into a muddy ditch.
In this one, you “squint” to tell if the car’s backfiring was loud or if the crash was
loud.
Standard: Clear
The car that was loudly backfiring crashed into a muddy ditch.
Standard: Clear
The car that was backfiring crashed loudly into a muddy ditch.