Misplaced Modifiers
Grammar Rules Guide - Chapter 19
Misplaced modifiers are single words, phrases, or clauses that do not point clearly to the word or words they modify. As a rule, related words usually should be kept together.
Six Helpful Tips for Placing Modifiers Correctly
1) Limiting modifiers (only, even, almost, nearly, just) should be placed in front of the words they modify.
Unclear: You will only need to plant one package of seeds.
Revised: You will need to plant only one package of seeds. (Only modifies one, not need.)
2) Place modifying phrases and clauses so that readers can see at a glance what they modify.
Unclear: The robber was described as a tall man with a black mustache weighing 150 pounds.
Revised: The robber was described as a six-foot-tall man weighing 150 pounds with a black mustache. (150 pounds describes the man, not the mustache.)
3) Sentences should flow from subject to verb to object without lengthy detours along the way. When adverbs separate subject from verb, verb from object, or helping-verb from main-verb, the result can be awkward.
Unclear: John, after trying to reach the ball, decided to get a ladder.
Revised: After trying to reach the ball, John decided to get a ladder. (Subject and verb are no longer separated.)
4) Infinitives (to plus a verb, such as: to go, to catch, to shout) usually should not be split unless necessary, especially in formal writing.
Unclear: The patient should try to, if possible, avoid going up and down stairs.
Revised: If possible, the patient should try to avoid going up and down stairs.
5) Dangling modifiers are word groups (usually introductory) that may seem confusing to some people if they fail to refer logically to any word in a sentence. Rewording a sentence may help to clarify the meaning.
Unclear: Deciding to join the navy, the recruiter happily pumped Joe's hand. (The recruiter is not deciding to join the navy; Joe is.)
Revised: The recruiter happily pumped Joe's hand after learning that Joe had decided to join the navy.
Unclear: Though only sixteen, UCLA accepted Martha's application. (UCLA is not sixteen; Martha is.)
Revised: Though Martha was only sixteen, UCLA accepted her application.
6) Dangling modifiers can be repaired by restructuring the sentence, but this restructuring may vary according to the writer's stylistic preferences.
Possibly unclear: When watching films, commercials are especially irritating.
a) One option would be to change the subject so that it names the actor that the modifier implies: When watching films, I find commercials especially irritating.
b) Another option would be to turn the modifier into a word group that includes the actor: When I am watching films, commercials are especially irritating.
Grammar Rules Guide Index
Active and Passive Voice - Chapter 1
Adjective, Adverb, and Noun Clauses - Chapter 2
Adjectives - Chapter 3
Adverbs - Chapter 4
Appositives - Chapter 5
Auxiliary Verbs - Chapter 6
Common and Proper Nouns - Chapter 7
Comparatives and Superlatives - Chapter 8
Complements - Chapter 9
Conjunctions - Chapter 10
Conjunctive Adverbs - Chapter 11
Dangling Modifiers - Chapter 12
Direct and Indirect Objects - Chapter 13
Fused Sentences, Run-Ons, and Comma Splices - Chapter 14
Homophones - Chapter 15
Independent and Dependent Clauses - Chapter 16
Interjections - Chapter 17
Mass and Count Nouns - Chapter 18
Misplaced Modifiers - Chapter 19
Noun and Pronoun Case - Chapter 20
Noun and Verb Phrases - Chapter 21
Nouns - Chapter 22
Parallelism - Chapter 23
Perfect and Progressive Verb Forms - Chapter 24
Prepositional Phrases - Chapter 25
Prepositions - Chapter 26
Principal Parts of Verbs - Chapter 27
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement - Chapter 28
Pronouns - Chapter 29
Regular and Irregular Verbs - Chapter 30
Relative Clauses - Chapter 31
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Clauses - Chapter 32
Sentence Fragments - Chapter 33
Sentence Types - Chapter 34
Subjects and Predicates - Chapter 35
Verb Mood - Chapter 36
Verbals and Verbal Phrases - Chapter 37
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