dangling modifiers
Incorrect: Architectually striking, everyone is quite impressed by the new building's size and elegance.
Changed to: Everyone is quite impressed by the new building's architectually striking size and elegance.
Correct
Dangling modifiers occur when a modifier, usually an adjective or a participial phrase, does not modify the intended subject of the sentence and creates confusion or ambiguity. In the given example, the modifier "architectually striking" is incorrectly placed at the beginning of the sentence, making it unclear what it is modifying.
To correct the sentence, we can restructure it so that the modifier properly modifies the subject being described. In this case, we can place the modifier "architectually striking" next to the noun it modifies, which is "size and elegance." The revised sentence would be: "Everyone is quite impressed by the new building's architectually striking size and elegance."
A dangling modifier is a phrase or clause that does not clearly and logically modify the intended word or phrase within a sentence. In the given example, "architectually striking" is a phrase that is intended to describe the new building. However, in the original sentence, the phrase is in the wrong position and it creates confusion about who or what is architectually striking.
To correct the sentence, we need to rearrange the words and phrases so that the intended meaning is clear. In the revised sentence, "everyone is quite impressed by the new building's architectually striking size and elegance," the phrase "architectually striking" is positioned before the noun it modifies, "size and elegance." This placement clarifies that it is the size and elegance of the new building that is architectually striking. By making this change, the dangling modifier has been corrected, and the sentence now communicates the intended meaning clearly.