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Common English Error - Dangling Clauses

Common English Errors of Local Students

Author of Basic Grammar In Context - Li Po Lung
Instructor of HK University of Science & Technology

Dangling Clauses


The wrong organisation of English sentences can confuse readers. One of the common problems is dangling clauses.
A dangling clause is a clause that ‘dangles’ by itself, i.e. it is not related to the rest of the sentence.
A sentence with such a clause confuses the reader; the reader does not know what the clause refers to.
Examples on Plural
Example
After reading the novel, a book report was submitted to the English teacher.
Explanation
The organisation of the sentence causes confusion because who read the novel is not clear. In ‘a book report was submitted to the English teacher’, ‘a book report’ is the subject. However, in ‘After reading the novel’, the subject is supposed to be the one who read the novel.
Correction
After reading the novel, Peter submitted a book report to the English teacher.
Exercise on Plural
Rewrite the dangling clauses below.
1. While investigating whether English is a suitable medium of instruction for the students, all the teachers and the students involved were randomly interviewed by the officials from the Education Department.
2. Having had a length debate, the new airport project was finally authorised by the government.
3. Moving quickly in the water, we saw a dolphin coming towards us.
4. After conducting the study, the report concludes that teenagers under 16 should not be allowed to use the mobile phone.
5. When explaining the advantages of building the Hong Kong Disneyland, the reporters were given some fact sheets about the details of the project.
Suggested Answers of the Exercise.
1. While investigating whether English is a suitable medium of instruction for the students, the officials from the Education Department randomly interviewed all the teachers and the students involved.
2. Having had a length debate, the government finally authorised the new airport project .
3. Moving quickly in the water, a dolphin came towards us. / We saw a dolphin moving quickly towards us.
4. After conducting the study, the research team concludes in the report that teenagers under 16 should not be allowed to use the mobile phone.
5. When explaining the advantages of building the Hong Kong Disneyland, Mr Donald Tsang gave the reporters some fact sheets about the details of the project.