Misplaced Modifiers Sentence Structure

Misplaced Modifiers A modifying phrase needs to be near what it is modifying. If it gets too far away, it can get misplaced. Sweeping up the shards of glass, the missing key to the jewelry box was found by Aunt Sally. As written this sentence gives the impression that the missing key was sweeping up the shards of glass.

Misplaced Modifiers When a sentence begins with a modifying phrase (a group of words without a subject), the noun being modified must follow the phrase. Who was sweeping up the shards of glass? Aunt Sally, of course. The correct version of the sentence would be: Sweeping up the shards of glass, Aunt Sally found the missing key to her jewelry box.

ACT Here’s how a misplaced modifier might look on the ACT. Walking to the pawnshop, Bob’s watch dropped into the sewer. A. NO CHANGE B. Bob’s watch dropped into the sewer C. Bob dropped his watch into the sewer D. Bob’s dropped watch into the sewer

Work Cited Martz, Geoff, Kim Magloire, and Theodore Silver. Cracking the ACT ed. New York: Random House, 2007.