Identify the sentence that contains a dangling modifier.

Identify the sentence that contains a dangling modifier.

• A. "Running along the river, the temple looked serene."
• B. "The temple looked serene while running along the river."
• C. "Running along the river, the runners admired the scenery."
• D. "The temple looked serene after the river ran."

Answer: (A)

A dangling modifier is when a descriptive phrase at the start doesn’t clearly attach to the noun that follows, making it seem like the action is being done by the wrong subject. In the first sentence, the opening phrase “Running along the river” describes someone who is running. But the sentence says the temple looked serene, which makes it sound as if the temple itself is running. That mismatch leaves the modifier dangling, because its intended subject isn’t the noun that comes next. The sentence with runners does the modifier correctly: “Running along the river” describes the runners, who are the ones performing the action, so the sentence makes sense. The sentence with “while running along the river” is awkward because it’s unclear who is actually doing the running, creating confusion about who the modifier describes. It’s not as clean as attaching the action to a proper subject. The last sentence links a time clause about the river, which doesn’t misattribute the action in the same way, so it isn’t a dangling modifier. So the first sentence is the one with a dangling modifier because the introductory phrase clearly should modify a verb performed by the temple, which isn’t possible.

A dangling modifier is when a descriptive phrase at the start doesn’t clearly attach to the noun that follows, making it seem like the action is being done by the wrong subject.

In the first sentence, the opening phrase “Running along the river” describes someone who is running. But the sentence says the temple looked serene, which makes it sound as if the temple itself is running. That mismatch leaves the modifier dangling, because its intended subject isn’t the noun that comes next.

The sentence with runners does the modifier correctly: “Running along the river” describes the runners, who are the ones performing the action, so the sentence makes sense.

The sentence with “while running along the river” is awkward because it’s unclear who is actually doing the running, creating confusion about who the modifier describes. It’s not as clean as attaching the action to a proper subject.

The last sentence links a time clause about the river, which doesn’t misattribute the action in the same way, so it isn’t a dangling modifier.

So the first sentence is the one with a dangling modifier because the introductory phrase clearly should modify a verb performed by the temple, which isn’t possible.