Question

In Modern American Usage, Wilson Follett noted the following example of a dangling modifier: ""Leaping to the saddle, his horse bolted.""

Which of the following sentences removes the dangling modifier from the sentence while retaining style and clarity?
1. His horse bolted as it leaped to the saddle.
2. When he leaped to the saddle, his horse bolted.
3. His horse bolting, he leaped to the saddle.
4. He leaped to the saddle, his horse bolted.

Answer 1

To remove the dangling modifier while retaining style and clarity in the sentence "Leaping to the saddle, his horse bolted," we can rephrase it as "His horse bolted as he leaped to the saddle" or "When he leaped to the saddle, his horse bolted."

Step-by-step explanation:

The sentence "Leaping to the saddle, his horse bolted" contains a dangling modifier because the participle phrase "Leaping to the saddle" does not correctly modify the subject. To remove the dangling modifier while retaining style and clarity, we can rephrase the sentence as follows:

1. His horse bolted as he leaped to the saddle. By starting the sentence with the subject "his horse," we avoid the dangling modifier and maintain the intended meaning.
2. When he leaped to the saddle, his horse bolted. This version also removes the dangling modifier by starting the sentence with the subject being modified.

Both of these options effectively remove the dangling modifier and provide clear and concise sentences.

To correct the dangling modifier in the sentence "Leaping to the saddle, his horse bolted," the sentence needs to be restructured to ensure that the subject performing the action is clear. The correct option is: When he leaped to the saddle, his horse bolted.

This correction explicitly states that he is the one leaping to the saddle. It is essential in sentence structure to ensure that modifiers clearly and logically refer to words that they modify to avoid confusion.