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韓Sir 資深英語教師
看看這句句子：
Wandering through the countryside, little birds were chirping merrily in the trees.
(在郊野閒逛，小鳥兒在樹上快樂地嘰嘰喳喳叫。)
這句句子的錯誤是把在郊野閒逛的說成了是小鳥兒，應用語言學 (applied linguistics) 叫這種錯誤為 “dangling modifier” (不依著修飾語)。
要更正錯誤，應改為：
Wandering through the countryside, I heard little birds chirping merrily in the trees.
加上了 “I heard” ，那句 modifier (修飾語)“ Wandering through the countryside” 便是修飾了主語 “I” 而非 “little birds” ，句子就正確了。在英語世界內，修飾語應清楚地依附著它們要修飾的主語，而不應懸吊著：“dangling” ，故有其名，曰 “dangling modifier” 。
母親在鍋裡却却作響
再看這句：
Sizzling in the pan, my mother smelled the sausages.
是母親在鍋裡却却作響？多嚇人！應是香腸吧？所以要把修飾語移近香腸，不要讓它們懸吊似的不依付著想修飾的人或物，看看改善後的效果：
My mother smelled the sausages sizzling in the pan.
犯了 “dangling modifier” 錯誤的作者，通常是忘記了把主詞 (subject) 告知讀者，因為以為主詞已被讀者明白，英文叫 “understood” ，故省略了。看看下句：
Having bought the guitar, it now needed tuning.
句子沒有提是誰買了六絃琴，讀者便以為是 “it” 這六絃琴買了自己。若改寫為下句便不會鬧出笑話了：
Peter, having bought the guitar, now needed to tune it.
修飾依著如修飾衣著
有時候 “dangling modifier” 也會出現在句末，看看下句：
The campaign was a disaster, not having realized most people were not interested in politics.
句子忘了提是誰沒有察覺這現象，應寫為：
The campaign was a disaster because they had not realized that most people were not interested in politics.
大家要避免 “dangling modifier” 鬧出的笑話，試試這記法：修飾依著如修飾衣著，貼近主語如貼近主人，自然不會犯「不依著修飾語」的錯誤了！
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