THE USE AND MISUSE OF

MODIFIER MAGIC

NEC FACET Center

What is a Modifier?
 A word or groups of words that describes, limits, or
qualifies the meaning of another word of phrase.
 Modifiers can be a word, a phrase, or a clause.
 For example:
 The silver fish (word)
 The fish in the pond (phrase)
 The fish that he caught (clause)
 A sentence example:
 The little boy standing by the concession stand reminds me
of my brother.
What are the modifiers?
 Can you imagine a world
without modifiers?

Click the doors to enter

the Grammar
Graveyard!
Click on Each Grave to See Who is Buried
There!
A world without modifiers is a deathly boring world.
Modifiers bring your sentences to life.

 He gave her the rose.

 He gave her the scarlet red rose he picked from the
sweet-smelling garden.
 I sat by the ocean.
 I sat by the crystal blue ocean as the roaring and foamy
waves crashed into the beach.
 She watched the sunset.
 She watched the blood red sun quickly sink below the
horizon.
The Purpose of Modifiers
 To add detail to sentences.
 To make sentences more interesting.
 To create clearer communication when correctly
used.

Modifiers can work

magic by bringing your
writing to life.
Like all magical powers, modifiers can be used for
good or evil.

 When used incorrectly

modifiers can cause
problems such as:
 Misplaced modifiers
 Dangling modifiers
 These modifier problems
can result in sentences
that are awkward,
misleading, or
unintentionally
humorous.
Misplaced Modifiers
 Misplaced modifiers are modifiers that are not put in
the right place in a sentence. They can describe the
wrong word and change the intended meaning of the
sentence.
 For Example:
 Covered in mud, Mark wiped off the trembling puppy.
Who is covered in mud? The puppy is muddy. But
it sounds like Mark is covered in mud. How could
we correct this sentence?

 Mark wiped off the trembling puppy covered in mud.

To avoid misplaced modifiers, make sure to place the
modifier as close to the item it modifies as possible.

 For example:
 Smelling sour, Tamara threw away the milk.
Put thatWas
arm down
it Tamara that smelled sour?
Tamara…..whoa, seriously.

Tamara is not smelling sour, the milk is. “Smelling sour”

is the modifier and “milk” is the item being modified.
 ….So to correct the sentence, we need to bring the modifier
(sour smelling) and the noun being modified (milk) closer
together. They’re sometimes shy and need a little help…..

Now we have successfully

Before
After brought
Milk, IMilk, I’m
just think together
wetired of the
modifier and the word that is
needbeing
modified.
to spend
The
some I want to
apart.
time apart. It’s not
original sentence read: you,beit’scloser
me. to you.

Sour smelling, Tamara threw

I agree Sour out the milk.
Smelling,
Sour Smellingour long distance
Milk
relationship wasn’t
The corrected sentence should
working. read:

Tamara threw out the sour smelling milk.

Another example:
 Shooting lasers out of his eyes, the mad scientist
was no match for the robot.
Was the scientist
shooting lasers
out of his eyes?

 Corrected:
 The doctor was no match for the robot shooting lasers
out of his eyes.
Another Example:
 Hidden in a fortune cookie, Sue found the engagement
ring.
What was Sue
doing in the
cookie?

How can we correct this sentence

and free Sue from the cookie?

 Sue found the engagement ring hidden in a fortune

cookie.
Misplaced groups of words do not cause
the only problems……..

Single words can also cause trouble.

The cheese stands

alone….and he is one
stinky cheese.
Behold all the possibilities that theUse
varying
your modifiers
placement of only one word can create.
carefully, because I am
in your computer
keeping it going…and
 What do each of these sentences say: watching you.
 Only gerbils like to run in wheels.
 Gerbils are the only animals that like to run in wheels.

 Gerbils only like to run in wheels.

 Gerbils won’t run in other places besides the wheel.

 Gerbils like only to run in wheels.

 Running in wheels is the only activity that gives gerbils

pleasure.
For Example:

 Jamie almost decided that $20 was too

much to pay for a ticket.
 Jamie decided that almost $20 was too

much to pay for a ticket.

 What is going on here? Did Jamie almost decide not to
buy the ticket, or did she think that a price close to $20
was too expensive? The placement of the word
“almost” matters.
For Example:
Yup, that cake is exactly
flat.
 Sam followed the recipe, but the
cake still came out exactly flat.
 Did the cake come out exactly flat?
 Corrected:
 Sam followed the recipe exactly, but
the cake still came out flat.
Misplacing modifiers are not the only way
one can abuse the magic of modifiers….
 Another modifier problem is called “the dangling
modifier.”

Dangling modifiers are dangerous to the

health of your sentences.
The Dangling Modifier
 When a modifier describes a word that does not
appear in the sentence, we say the modifier is
“dangling.”
 The reader will probably try to “attach” it to a word
in the sentence, but the result may prove confusing.
How do dangling modifiers occur? Let’s take a
look……

 Here is a correct sentence that uses a modifier:

 Falling asleep, Trisha steered the car into the trees.

The Modifier
The item modified

Falling asleep Trisha

There is a clear
But what if that
connection between the
connection was
 Then the modifier would
modifier betheleft
and
severed?
itemdangling, and we would
modified.
get a sentence that looked like this…...
What is wrong with this sentence?
 Falling asleep, the car steered into the bushes.

Can a car fall asleep?

No. But this sentence
seems to say that
because the word the
modifier was meant to
modify (Trisha) has
been cut from the
sentence. This leaves
“Falling asleep”
dangling.
What is wrong with this sentence?

 While waiting for the bus, the sky turned

threatening. Who is waiting for the bus? It
is not clear.
The modifier “while waiting
for the bus” is dangling.
Because there is no subject, it
Oh man! The bus left
seems as though the sky is
me again. If I ever meet
waiting for the bus.
that driver in a dark
alley, I’ll…I’ll…rain all
over his head!
How can we correct this sentence?
 While waiting for the bus, the sky turned
threatening.
 When correcting a dangling modifier you have 2
options:
 1. You can insert a subject near the start of the
sentence.
 2. You can insert a subject after the comma.
 For this example, #1 works best:
 While we waited for the bus, the sky turned
threatening.
Another Example:
 After running the marathon, exhaustion overcame
me. What does the modifier “after running
the marathon” modify? That word is
missing from the sentence.

Oh no!! I was just

It seems like “exhaustion” is The end is in I’m wining, I’m by
overcome winning!
running the marathon. sight, I must Exhaustion will never
Exhaustion!!
keep going!! catch me!

Exhaustion
How can we correct the sentence?
 After running the marathon, exhaustion overcame
me.
 Remember, you have 2 options:
 Insert a subject at the beginning of the sentence, or
 Insert a subject after the comma

 Option #1
 After I ran the marathon, exhaustion overcame me.
OR
 Option #2
 After running the marathon, I was overcome by
exhaustion.
One More Example:
 While kneading the dough, the oven warmed up.
Who is kneading the
We know
dough? thatisthe
There nooven is
subject
tonot kneading
perform thatthe dough.
action.
So how could
Therefore we correct
it sounds like the
this sentence?
oven is kneading the
dough.

 Correction:
 While Norma kneaded the dough, the oven warmed up.
Caution to Writers
 Spotting dangling modifiers in your own writing may
prove difficult.
 Your brain automatically supplies the missing
information.

 So as you edit your paper, think of your reader. You may

know what you mean, but he or she might be confused.
Now that you have learned to harness the magic of
modifiers for good, it is time to practice your skills!

Let’s begin by
correcting misplaced
modifiers. Remember Item
Modifier to bring the modifier modified
and the item modified
closer together!
How could we correct this misplaced modifier?

 The woman was feeding the cat in blue pumps.

 What is the modifier?
 in blue pumps
 Who is wearing the pumps?
 The woman
 Move the modifier (in blue pumps) closer to the
item it modifies (woman).
 Corrected:
 The woman in blue pumps was feeding the cat.
How could we correct these misplaced modifiers?

 Beating his chest, Stewart watched the gorilla

go berserk.
 Corrected:

Stewart watched the gorilla beating his chest

go berserk.
 Jane came close to winning the race. She almost

sprinted at the finish and beat her competitor.

 Corrected:
 She sprinted at the finish and almost beat
her competitor.
Now let’s review “dangling modifiers!”

Remember that
dangling modifiers are
dangling because the
sentence is lacking a
word for them to
modify. You must
correct the sentence by
supplying the missing
information.
How could we correct this dangling modifier?

 Having finished the main course, dessert was eaten.

 What is the modifier?

 Having finished the main course

 What does it modify?

 The sentence is missing a word for it to modify.

 “Having finished the main course” is an
action
 But there is no “doer” of that action.
 We need to insert a subject to perform the action
 Correction:
 Having finished the main course, the family ate dessert.
How could we correct these dangling modifiers?

 After visiting the processing plant, meat will never seem

the same again.
 Did the meat visit the processing plant?
 Corrected:
 After visiting the processing plant, I’ll never see meat the
same again.
 The fundraiser was a success, having run 100 laps for
$10,000.
 The fundraiser did not run laps.
 Corrected:
 The volunteers made the fundraiser a success, having run 100
laps for $10,000.
Go forth and use the magic of modifiers to
improve your writing!
I foresee
grammatically-correct,
vibrant, and well
constructed sentences
in your future.