Complements #5: Avoiding Adjectives and Adverbs Video Lecture | Learn and Master: Business Writing - Communication

our final segment for understanding Mad
modifiers is talk about our D category
dangling modifiers so let me put up an
example of what a dangling modifier is
okay so a dangling modifier is a
modifier phrase that's hanging out in
the wrong spot that's why it's dangling
it's hanging out in the wrong spot not
modifying the correct word it's hanging
out next to the wrong crowd
okay the wrong word that's what you need
to mentally think about now let's look
at this sentence dangling modifier is so
easy to recognize this pattern it's
always going to be the same pattern
where we have a modifier phrase at the
beginning of our sentence followed by
something that it's modifying so
visually if you can say to yourself this
is the visual pattern that my dangling
modifier sentence type will look like
it'll help you trigger to find the dank
potentially the dangling modifiers in
your sentence so I look up here to go oh
I have an introductory phrase followed
by some kind of subject that it should
be modifying or that it is modifying
this potentially could be a dangling
modifier now here's what you do with
your pen to test out whether or not I
have a clear modifier relationship or my
modifier phrase is hanging out in the
wrong spot I'm going to circle my entire
modifier phrase circle the entire
modifier phrase and then draw an arrow
to the subject that comes next to it and
then I'm going to test it out i verbally
stating the modifier phrase after the
subject to see if in fact the modifier
phrase is accurately talking about or
describing that subject for the sentence
has positioned it to talk about so let's
talk through this process with our
sentence I'm just gonna read the
sentence once so that you can hear it
after reading my resume I would like an
interview now you might hear that
sentence and your ear might say sounds
pretty good I don't find a problem with
it but
again we recognize because I've got that
intro modifier phrase followed with a
comma and a subject I that's an
indicator I've got to test out the
relationship so I circle the whole thing
I draw an arrow to the subject that
comes next
dotted line to go I'm gonna test it
after the subject to see if in fact that
is what it's modifying so let me restate
it according to my test I after reading
my resume would like an interview well
clearly I'm not the one who needs to
read my own resume and then get an
interview what I'm trying to say is
after you read my resume I would like an
interview but what's happened is I've
put that modifier phrase and it's
hanging out next to the wrong subject so
I need to restate the sentence and
clarify that modifier phrase here's one
way that you could do that
okay I've rewritten the sentence to say
after you read my resume I would like an
interview let's do our test for a
dangling potentially dangling modifier
I'm just doing this so they can see
visually what to do again okay so now
let's see if the relationships are clear
I after you read my resume would like an
interview
now the relationships are clear and I
know that that verb action of reading
the resume belongs to you not to this
subject so this is in fact a good
modifier relationship let's look at one
more sentence and test it out for a
dangling modifier now remember the
visual pattern that I'm looking for is
some kind of introductory phrase
followed by a subject generally that's
gonna say oh this could be potentially a
dangling modifier so I look at the
sentence and I go okay I have this
introductory phrase it actually kind of
extends right there and here is my
subject let's test out the relationship
so this modifier phrase is in the
sentence modifying this subject and I'm
going to verbally place it right here
your manager to succeed in this job
should mentor you is that what I'm
trying to say that the manager in order
for him to succeed he has to mentor you
clearly that's not what I'm trying to
say this is a dangling modifier it's a
modifier phrase that's hanging out next
to the wrong word so I'm going to
reshape my sentence to clarify that
modifier relationship
right
okay so now we have a new sentence to
succeed in this job you should ask your
manager to mentor you let's take our pen
and test it out to see if the modifier
relationship is clear and correct
so our modifier phrase is to succeed in
this job and the subject that comes next
is you so let's test that out you to
succeed in this job should ask your
manager to mentor you and in fact that
is a correct and clear modifier
relationship so this sentence is good