Common CELPIP errors - Dangling Modifiers

When I was studying for my CELPIP exam I got material from them. Unfortunately, I can not put the PDF to the public because it has a watermark with my personal email. But I can put you here what it says.

CELPIP's seventh error as they state:

Often an introductory element, a dangling modifier doesn’t logically refer to anything mentioned in the sentence; it modifies something that’s not stated: Growing up in a creative family, an art career is an option. (Who is growing up? Surely not the art career, but an unmentioned person.) We can’t repair dangling modifiers by moving them; we must rewrite the sentence. One solution is to mention the actor in the main clause, right next to the dangling modifier. Growing up in a creative family, Noah has the option of an art career. A second solution is to add the actor to the dangling modifier: Since he is growing up in a creative family, Noah has the option of an art career.

How to find and fix Dangling Modifiers

Participial Phrase (-ing)

• Eating popcorn, crunching noises are heard.
• Eating popcorn, the moviegoers make crunching noises.
• As the moviegoers eat popcorn, crunching noises are heard.

Participial Phrase (-en or -ed form)

• Eaten noisily, it is hard to hear the soundtrack.
• Eaten noisily, popcorn makes it hard for moviegoers to hear the soundtrack.
• When moviegoers eat popcorn noisily, it is hard to hear the soundtrack.

Infinitive Phrase

• To get a front-row seat, early arrival is a must.
• To get a front-row seat, we must arrive early.
• If we want to get a front-row seat, early arrival is a must.

Prepositional Phrase

• With 3D glasses on, Spiderman was startling.
• With 3D glasses on, I found Spiderman starling.
• When I wore 3D glasses, Spiderman was starting.

Adverb Clause Reduction

• If watching a 3D movie for the 100^th time, the thrill is gone.
• If watching a 3D movie for the 100^th time, we find the thrill is gone.
• If we are watching a 3D movie for the 100^th time, the thrill is gone.

Beware

When using the passive voice:

• Noticing the package, it was inspected.
• Noticing the package, Miguel inspected it.

Good luck!