Tag – you’re it!

In Tag, the “it” person tags the closest victim, whoever that might be. He doesn’t run around searching for someone in particular. Anyone will do.

An introductory phrase is like the “it” person in that childhood game. It appears first in a sentence and is followed by a comma. It tags the closest noun or pronoun after the comma, and that’s the one it modifies.

Sometimes the intended target is far away, later in the sentence or hiding behind a tree (but that’s another game).

When the word described by the introductory phrase appears at the end of the sentence, with other nouns in the way, the results can be surprising and comical. Here are three examples I have seen—in print—from people who write for a living.

1. Being a fan of the book, the movie was so disappointing.

     Literal meaning: The movie was a fan of the book.

2. As a pediatric physician, each patient is very important to me.

     Literal meaning: Each of my patients is a pediatric physician.

3. Under the influence of a controlled substance with a prior, officers arrested the man.

     Literal meaning: Officers were under the influence of drugs, and the drugs had a prior.

The third one is a double disaster. Inside the introductory phrase there’s a prepositional phrase (with a prior) that’s also misplaced.

Here are the same examples, rewritten to make sense:

Being a fan of the book, I found the movie disappointing.
As a pediatric physician, I consider each patient very important.
Under the influence of a controlled substance and with a prior, the man was arrested by officers.

In each case, the subject immediately follows the comma after the introductory phrase. Example 3 is still awkward, and would be clearer like this: Officers arrested the man, who was under the influence of a controlled substance and also had a prior. 

Carelessly writing your introductory phrases, readers might tag the wrong noun.

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