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Is the following phrase grammatically correct:

Suffering from anxiety and depression, life has been a tremendous challenge for him ever since he was a young boy.

user1934212
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  • It's a dangling modifier . He has suffered from anxiety, so you could change it to ...he has found life a tremendous challenge... – Kate Bunting Sep 19 '20 at 08:28
  • Is the modifier really dangling, if the pronouns it modifies (i.e. "he" and "him") are present? According to the link you provided, modifiers are only dangling if the words they modify are omitted. – user1934212 Sep 19 '20 at 08:39
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    The sentence as it stands implies to me that life has suffered from anxiety, not he. – Kate Bunting Sep 19 '20 at 08:44
  • Yep - that is indeed the problem. But is it grammatically incorrect, or just a bit convoluted? Would the following addition fix it: "Suffering from anxiety and depression, his life has been a tremendous challenge, ever since he was a young boy." Or does ist require a complete rearrangement, like "Suffering from ... , he found life tremendously challenging, ever since he was a young boy". – user1934212 Sep 19 '20 at 08:46
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    That's the sort of rearrangement I suggested in my original comment. – Kate Bunting Sep 19 '20 at 11:03
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    Does this answer your question? "Dangling Participles" See the article by G Pullum. Some people would class this as an error, but if the meaning is clear, no less an acknowledged expert than Pullum has said that such people are high on the hyperprescriptive cline. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 20 '20 at 19:01

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