without a trace of arrogance

[navi tasan]

What I appreciated most about this famous man was his friendliness, without a trace of arrogance.

Is that sentence grammatical?

I wrote it myself, based on something I read.

The phrase 'without a trace of arrogance' is supposed to postmodify 'friendliness', but I am not sure that it is not 'dangling'.

I have a tendency to explore the Twilight Zone of the English language.

 

[emsr2d2]

It sounds as if you are the one who has no trace of arrogance while (literally at the same time as) appreciating the man's friendliness.

Change the end to "... was that he was friendly without a trace of arrogance".

I'd note that it's a little strange to put those two adjectives together, as if most friendly people are expected to be arrogant and he's the exception. That's just not the case. If you changed "friendly" to "confident", it would work better. Alternatively, you could keep "friendly" and use "obsequiousness" at the end (one of my favourite words).

 

[Annabel Lee]

What I appreciated most about this famous man was his friendliness, without a trace of arrogance.

I can't resist suggesting another possible revision, despite its sounding a bit literary and old-fashioned.

What I appreciated most about this famous man was his friendliness, containing not a trace of arrogance.​