What is the name of the common error in the following sentence?
-Having risen because of the rains, the hikers were unable to cross the river.-
1) Infinitive phrase
2) Run-on sentence
3) Dangling modifier
4) Prepositional phrase
# 3, dangling modifier
Right again!
Thanks for your help Ms. Sue. I may have one more for you to review.
You're very welcome. I'll be glad to review more.
Which of the following is the best opening sentence for a business letter that you want to sound fairly informal?
The common error in the given sentence is a dangling modifier. To identify the error, let's understand what a dangling modifier is. A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that provides additional information about another part of the sentence. A dangling modifier occurs when the modifier is not logically or grammatically linked to the word or phrase it is intended to modify.
In the given sentence, the modifier "Having risen because of the rains" is the dangling modifier. It is intended to modify "the hikers," suggesting that the hikers have risen because of the rains. However, the sentence structure implies that the hikers have risen, which creates a mismatch and confusion. To correct this error, we can rewrite the sentence to make the subject of the main clause the logical subject of the modifier: "Because of the rains, the hikers were unable to cross the river."
So, the correct option is 3) Dangling modifier.