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Misplaced Modifiers 1

Misplaced-Modifiers English

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15 views17 pages

Misplaced Modifiers 1

Misplaced-Modifiers English

Uploaded by

noor492k
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Misplaced Modifiers

Modifier Basics

A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that


modifies—that is, gives information about
another word in the same sentence. For example, in the following
sentence,
the word "burger" is modified by the word
"vegetarian":
Example: I'm going to the Saturn Café for a vegetarian burger.
•The modifier "vegetarian" gives extra information about what kind of
burger it is.
A modifier can be an adjective (a word that modifies a noun, like
"burger"), but it can also be an adverb (a word that modifies
a verb):
Example: The student carefully proofread her draft.
•The adverb "carefully" is the modifier in this example—it modifies
the verb "proofread," giving important details about how the
proofreading was conducted.
A modifier can even be a phrase or clause, as in the following
example:
Example: She studied in the library.
•Here, the phrase "in the library" gives us extra information about
the verb, "studied."

Modifiers can also be used for sentence variety..


Misplaced Modifiers
Sentences would be pretty dull without modifiers to provide

excitement and intrigue. Thanks to modifiers, words like

“the bird” become “the soaring bird.”

Sentences like, “She peered through the window,” become “With a

gleam in her eye, she peered through the window.”


• Modifiers dress up otherwise plain sentiments.

• However, it’s important for modifiers to stick close to the word or


words they’re modifying.

• When they stray too far, they become misplaced modifiers.

• And, the further away they get, the more it looks like they’re
modifying something else entirely.
Let’s dive right in to some examples of misplaced modifiers and talk about why these examples don’t work.
Example #1: Mary’s Birthday
• Eagerly awaiting her birthday, Mary's presents were all picked up and
admired by Mary many times throughout the day.

Here, this sentence makes it seem as though Mary's presents were eagerly
awaiting Mary's birthday. Since presents can't exhibit the emotion of feeling
eager, it’s unlikely that this modifier is written correctly. The most logical
explanation is that Mary was eagerly awaiting her own birthday. The sentence
should be rewritten so the modifier actually modifies Mary.

• Correction: Eagerly awaiting her birthday, Mary picked up and admired her
presents many times throughout the day.
Example #2: Mitch’s Travel

• Tired of all of the nights in hotels, delight overcame by Mitch when his
boss finally said he didn't have to travel anymore.

Here, “delight” is being modified by the phrase “tired of all of the nights in
hotels.” Unfortunately, “delight” can't be tired, because delight isn't a person.
Instead, it is more likely that “Mitch” is tired. We can correct this sentence by
moving the proper subject next to the modifier.

• Correction: Tired of all of the nights in hotels, Mitch was delighted when
his boss finally said he didn't have to travel anymore.
Example #3: Children’s Paper Plates

• She served sandwiches to the children on paper plates.

This sentence makes it seem like the children were on paper plates.
The goal is to modify the sandwiches.

• Correction: She served the children sandwiches on paper plates.


Example #4: An End to His Driving
• He nearly drove the car for six hours a day.

This one’s a little bit trickier. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with
this sentence. However, the word order makes the meaning slightly
ambiguous or misleading. The intent is to say that he drove for nearly
six hours a day. As such, it should be revised to:

• Correction: He drove the car for nearly six hours a day.


Example #5: Puppies and Kittens

• She saw a puppy and a kitten on the way to the store.

This sentence might conjure up images of a puppy and a kitten


prancing down the street, headed to the local store. What should be
stated here is that the woman is walking to the store and, on the way,
she saw a puppy and a kitten.

• Correction: On the way to the store, she saw a puppy and a kitten.
Example #6: A Measly Five Dollars
• Only Pastor Johnson gave me $5 to clean all his sidewalks.

This sentence makes it sound like only this one pastor, Pastor
Johnson, paid $5. In other words, no other pastor paid $5 to clean
the sidewalk. Meanwhile, the intent is to emphasize that Pastor
Johnson only paid a meager amount.

• Correction: Pastor Johnson gave me only $5 to clean all his


sidewalks.
Example #7: Failed Exams
• She almost failed every exam she took.

It may be true that this student almost failed every exam. However,
what’s meant to be said is that she did, in fact, fail many exams. In the
misplaced modifier version, it sounds like the student passed all of
her exams, but each individual score was close to a fail. Perhaps she
kept getting a 51%. In the corrected version, it sounds like she failed
most of her exams and only passed a few. In either version, the
outcomes are drastically different.

• Correction: She failed almost every exam she took.


Example #8: People Who Laugh

• People who laugh rarely are sad.

This is another great example of a misplaced modifier. Is it people


who laugh rarely are sad? Or, is it people who rarely laugh become
sad? Both may be correct. But, it’s important to be clear about the
intent.

• Correction: People who rarely laugh are sad.


Example #9: His Sister’s Horse

• He bought a horse for his sister called Prince.

• This sentence makes it sound like the sister’s name is Prince.


That would be… unique. Instead, it should be made clear
that the horse is named Prince, and he purchased it for the
sister.

• Correction: He bought a horse called Prince for his sister.

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