Grammar Deep Dive

The Dangling Infinitive: Why Your Sentences Might Be Saying What You Don't Mean

By Grammar Unraveled · 7 min read

Have you ever read a sentence that felt slightly off, as if the words were reaching for something they couldn't quite grasp? Chances are, you encountered a dangling infinitive — one of the most common yet least understood grammatical slip-ups in the English language.

Unlike its more famous cousin the dangling participle, the dangling infinitive hides in plain sight. It doesn't announce itself with an awkward "-ing" phrase. Instead, it quietly attaches an infinitive — a "to + verb" construction — to the wrong subject, creating sentences that technically say something the writer never intended.

What Exactly Is a Dangling Infinitive?

An infinitive phrase is any construction that begins with "to" followed by a base verb: to run, to discover, to understand. When this phrase opens or modifies a sentence, it needs a clear, logical subject to attach to. When that subject is missing or misplaced, the infinitive "dangles" — it floats without a grammatical anchor.

Dangling Example

"To improve test scores, the curriculum was redesigned."

Who wanted to improve test scores? The curriculum can't want anything. The intended subject — teachers, administrators — is nowhere in the sentence.

Corrected Version

"To improve test scores, the school board redesigned the curriculum."

Why Do Writers Produce Dangling Infinitives?

Dangling infinitives thrive in three specific conditions. Understanding these patterns helps you spot and fix them before they slip into your final draft.

1. Passive Voice Conceals the Actor

Passive constructions remove the doer from the sentence. When an infinitive phrase needs that doer as its subject, it has nothing to latch onto.

Dangling: "To qualify for the grant, an application must be submitted by Friday."

Fixed: "To qualify for the grant, applicants must submit their forms by Friday."

2. The Writer Assumes Context

Writers often know exactly who or what they're referring to — they just forget to say it explicitly. The subject lives in their head, not on the page.

Dangling: "To stay competitive, prices were slashed dramatically."

Fixed: "To stay competitive, the company slashed prices dramatically."

3. Sentence Restructuring Goes Wrong

During editing, writers move phrases around to improve flow. Sometimes the infinitive phrase ends up far from its original subject, and nobody reconnects them.

Dangling: "To reduce emissions, hybrid vehicles were purchased for the fleet."

Fixed: "To reduce emissions, the city purchased hybrid vehicles for the fleet."

A Three-Step Repair Method

Whenever you write or encounter an infinitive phrase, run through these three quick diagnostic steps:

1

Identify the Infinitive

Find every "to + verb" phrase, especially those that open a sentence or clause.

2

Ask "Who?"

Determine who performs the action. Is that person or thing the grammatical subject of the main clause?

3

Reconnect or Rewrite

Either name the correct subject right after the comma, or restructure the sentence entirely.

Test Your Eye: Interactive Quiz

Can you spot the correctly written sentence in each group? Click your answer to check.

Your Score

Real-World Traps to Watch For

Dangling infinitives lurk in professional, academic, and everyday writing. Here are authentic-style examples from common contexts:

Business Emails

"To finalize the deal, contracts should be signed by both parties."

"To finalize the deal, both parties should sign the contracts."

Academic Writing

"To understand the phenomenon, further experiments were conducted."

"To understand the phenomenon, the researchers conducted further experiments."

Everyday Speech

"To lose weight, sugar was eliminated from the diet."

"To lose weight, she eliminated sugar from her diet."

The Takeaway

Dangling infinitives are not the end of the world — but they do quietly undermine the clarity and authority of your writing. The good news? Once you learn to recognize the pattern, you'll catch them almost instinctively.

Every time you write an infinitive phrase, pause and ask a single question: "Who is doing this?" If the answer isn't immediately clear in the sentence, rewrite it until it is. Your readers — and your credibility — will thank you.

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