Hot, Dry Season in Mexico
And...dangling modifiers.
Here in Mexico, we’re beginning what we call the hot, dusty season. Sounds unpleasant, doesn’t it? Most Mexicans I know prefer the cold season we just finished; most Gringo(a)s like me prefer the rainy season because it cools off and usually only rains at night and only floods every few years. But me—I prefer the hot season perhaps because I’m a sun worshipper from California. I detest the cold and am comfortable in hot weather. Sometimes people are surprised that I don’t live at the beach. Humidity? Hurricanes? No, thank you, though I love to vacation there every year. The rainy season is nice but it’s a pain; my dogs hate the rain and won’t go out in even a mist. And then they track mud into the house. Most houses are adobe and naturally well insulated, so we “don’t need heating or air conditioning.” Ha! Most wimpy Gringas like me buy heaters and air conditioners, or at least fans for every room. The average annual temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit is deceptive; it gets like 50 in the winter and 95 this time of year. Moderate. Pleasant. Mostly. There is no humidity, though, so one’s skin is dry.
Those Annoying Dangling Modifiers
I’m talking about sentences like this:
Unlike his laptop, Dan hasn’t changed the password on his phone.
(Dan is not like his laptop.)
And this:
Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, his skin was burned from the sun. (His skin was casually dressed.)
And even this:
Caught in a kneeling position, someone pushed me over. (Someone pushed me over while he was kneeling.)
These sentences are taken from actual published works, but I changed them and didn’t give credit because who would want it?
Fixes:
Dan has changed the password on his laptop, but not on his phone.
His T-shirt and jeans partly concealed his sunburn.
Caught in a kneeling position, I toppled over when someone pushed me.
While I kneeled over the open well to examine the body, someone crept up behind me and shoved.
I see this so often that I wondered if the rule had become obsolete. According to both ProWritingAid and Grammar Girl, the rule still applies. So that settles it.
I get it, though. Sentence variety is difficult, especially with first person narrators. Think of the first phrase as an adjective (since that’s what it is), and that the (pro)noun the phrase modifies must follow immediately.
Hot, tired and grouchy, I luxuriated in the cool shower.
After writing a mediocre example, I said goodbye. Hasta pronto.