Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers

What is a modifier? A modifier is a word or group of words that

describes, limits, or qualifies the meaning of another word. 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)

What are the modifiers? The little boy standing by the concession stand

reminds me of my brother.

The purpose of modifiers:

To add detail to sentences To make sentences more interesting To create clearer communication when

correctly used

Good and Evil 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 separated from the

word or words that they describe. 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?

Mark wiped off the trembling puppy covered in mud.

Avoiding 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.

Tamara is not smelling sour; the milk is. “Smelling sour” is the modifier, and “milk” is the item being modified.

Tamara threw out the sour-smelling milk. Smelling sour, the milk had to be thrown out.

Another example: Shooting lasers out of his eyes, the scientist

was no match for the robot.

Was the scientist shooting lasers out of his eyes? That’s just silly.

Corrected: The scientist was no match for the robot

shooting lasers out of his eyes. Shooting lasers out of his eyes, the robot was

too powerful for the scientist.

Another example: Hidden in a fortune cookie, Sue found the

engagement ring.

Was Sue hiding in the fortune cookie? That’s weird.

Corrected: Sue found the engagement ring hidden in a

fortune cookie.

Trouble with Single-word Modifiers Jamie almost decided that $90 was too much

to pay for a ticket.Vs.

Jamie decided that almost $90 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 $90 was too expensive?

The Dangling Modifier Misplaced modifiers are not the only way to

mess up the magic of modifiers. When a modifier describes a word that does

not appear in the sentence, we say the modifier is “dangling.”

How do dangling modifiers occur? Here is a correct sentence that uses a

modifier: Falling asleep, Trisha steered the car into the

trees.

What happens if the connection between “falling asleep” and “Trisha” is severed?Answer: Confusion happens! We

would then get a sentence that looks like the following:

Falling asleep, the car steered into the trees. Can a car fall asleep? Not in real life.

What is wrong with this sentence? While waiting for the bus, the sky turned dark

and threatening.

Who is waiting for the bus? The sky? That’s just not logical.

Corrected: While waiting for the bus, we watched the sky

turn dark and threatening. While we waited for the bus, the sky turned dark

and threatening.

Another example: After running the marathon, exhaustion

overcame me.

Did exhaustion run the marathon? Don’t be ridiculous.

Corrected: After I ran the marathon, exhaustion overcame

me. After running the marathon, I was overcome by

exhaustion.