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Question

Difficulty: MediumMisplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Complete the sentence by typing the correct subject from the choices ('the pianist' or 'the concerto') to avoid a dangling modifier.

Answer:Having practiced the difficult concerto for months, 【the pianist】 performed flawlessly at the recital.

Answer

the pianist
The correct answer is the phrase that names the person who did the practicing. A pianist can practice, making 'the pianist' the logical subject to follow the introductory modifier.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the introductory modifying phrase.
The phrase is 'Having practiced the difficult concerto for months'.
This modifier describes the action of practicing a concerto, which requires a person (a pianist) rather than an inanimate object.
2
Evaluate the choices to find the logical subject.
'the pianist' is the correct choice because a pianist can practice a concerto, whereas 'the concerto' cannot practice itself.
A dangling modifier is resolved when the noun immediately following the comma is the entity performing the action of the modifier.

Key Concept

A dangling modifier occurs when the introductory modifying phrase does not logically describe the subject that follows it. To correct this, the subject of the main clause must be the logical doer of the action in the modifier.
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Topics

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

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