Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers By Colin Wood

The Misplaced Modifier  A misplaced modifier is a group of words that falls in the wrong part of the sentence, therefore modifying the wrong subject.  It’s usually awkward and confusing.  Sometimes it can even be humorous.

Clear Placement Readers tend to link a modifier to the nearest word it could modify. “He poured a drink for the girl in a plastic cup.” This sentence could be confusing to the reader because “in a plastic cup” could mean the “girl” or the “drink” is inside the cup. He poured a drink for the girl in a plastic cup. Correct this by placing the modifier “in a plastic cup” closer to “drink”: “He poured a drink in a plastic cup for the girl.” ? ?

Limiting Modifiers Limiting modifiers include almost, even, exactly, hardly, just, and simply. To avoid confusion, write the limiting modifier immediately before the word or word group being limited. “I just ate two meals yesterday.” This sentence might be confusing to the reader because “just” could be interpreted as “just two meals” or “just yesterday.” I just ate two meals yesterday. Correct this sentence by placing the limiting modifier “just” closer to what you want to limit: “I ate just two meals yesterday.” “I ate two meals just yesterday.” ? ?

Dangling Modifiers  A dangling modifier does not modify anything in the sentence. This obviously generates confusion because the reader is left asking, “Wait, what just happened in that sentence?”  Dangling modifiers are usually at the beginning of a sentence and only suggest a subject. They do not actually name a subject, which is the cause of confusion.  Pressing the button, the blinds opened.

Correcting Danglers   Identify the dangler:   Find a subject: If the modifier lacks a subject, identify what it describes.   Connect the subject and modifier: Verify that when the modifier describes is in fact the subject of the main clause. If it is not, the modifier is probably dangling.   Revise the dangler:   Revise as needed: Revise a dangling modifier (a) by recasting it with a subject of its own or (b) by changing the subject of the main clause.   When I was in diapers, my mother remarried.   When in diapers, I attended my mother’s second wedding. “The Little, Brown Compact Handbook” by Jane E. Aaron Page 246 “When in diapers, my mother remarried.

Adverbs! Bored yet? Get ready for...

  A long adverb stops the flow from subject to verb:   Kuwait, after the first Gulf War ended in 1991, began returning to normal.   After the first Gulf War ended in 1991, Kuwait began returning to normal.   Any adverb is awkward between a verb and it’s direct object:   The war had damaged badly many of Kuwait’s oil fields.   The war had badly damaged many of Kuwait’s oil fields.   A split infinitive - an adverb placed between to and the verb - annoys many readers:   The weather service expected temperatures to not rise.   The weather service expected temperatures not to rise. Adverbs can make a sentence awkward when they interrupt certain grammatical units. Awkward Adverbs subjectadverbverb adverb verbsubject adverbverb adverb verb infinitive adverb infinitiveadverb “The Little, Brown Compact Handbook” by Jane E. Aaron Pages

More Adverb Positions   Adverbs of frequency include always, never, often, rarely, and usually. They generally appear at the beginning of a sentence, before a one-word verb, or after the helping verb in a phrase.   Robots have sometimes put humans out of work.   Sometimes robots have put humans out of work.   Adverbs of degree include absolutely, almost, certainly, completely, definitely, hardly, and only. They fall just before the word modified (an adjective, another adverb, or sometimes a verb.)   Robots have been especially useful in making cars.   Adverbs of manner include badly, beautifully, openly, sweetly, tightly, well, and others which describe how something is done.   Robots work smoothly on assembly lines.   The position of the adverb “not” depends on what it modifies.   When it modifies a verb, place it after the helping verb (or the first helping verb if there are more than one):   Robots do not think.   When it modifies another adverb or an adjective, place it before the other modifier:   Robots are not sleek machines. “The Little, Brown Compact Handbook” by Jane E. Aaron - Page 244 helping verb adverb main verb helping verb main verb adverbverb adverbadjective adverbverb adjective

Order of Adjectives English follows distinctive rules for arranging two or three adjectives before a noun. (A string of more than three adjectives before a noun is rare.) The order is shown in the following chart. “The Little, Brown Compact Handbook” by Jane E. Aaron Page 245