Modifier Placement
Modifier
A modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that clarifies or describes another word, phrase, or clause. Adjectives and adverbs are modifiers. Phrases and clauses can also work as modifiers. Modifiers make writing more interesting, but also more prone to errors.
Two common modifier errors are misplaced modifiers and dangling modifiers. When these errors occur, readers become confused trying to figure out what the writer meant.
Misplaced Modifier
A misplaced modifier is too far from the word or words it modifies. Misplaced modifiers make a sentence awkward and sometimes unintentionally funny. For example:
She wore a bicycle helmet on her head that was too large.
This seems to say her head was too large. The modifying phrase “that was too large” should be closer to the word “helmet.” The modifier is misplaced.
Corrected: She wore a bicycle helmet that was too large on her head.
Here is another example:
The patient was referred to a physician with stomach pains.
Does the doctor have stomach pains? The modifier “with stomach pains” is too far from the word “patient.”
Corrected: The patient with stomach pains was referred to a physician.
Dangling Modifier
A dangling modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that describes something that isn’t in the sentence. When there is nothing to modify, the modifier is said to “dangle.” For example:
Riding in the sports car, the world seemed to whiz by rapidly.
Who is riding in the sports car? The modifier “riding in the sports car” is dangling.
Corrected: When Farzad was riding in the sports car, the world seemed to whiz by rapidly.
Here is another example:
Walking home at night, the trees looked like spooky aliens.
Who is walking? The modifier “walking home at night” is dangling.
Corrected: As Sarah was walking home at night, the trees looked like spooky aliens.
- “Dangling Modifier.” YouTube, Grammar Monster, 15 Apr. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA5hyjHFWlw
- “Modifiers” is an excerpt from “Common Sentence Errors,” by Gay Monteverde, and can be found in 1, 2, 3 Write! It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
