GRAMMAR: MISPLACED MODIFIERSDANGLING MODIFIERS

DANGLING MODIFIERS

Components to cover:

• MISPLACED MODIFIERS

• DANGLING MODIFIERS

Example

The silver fish (word)The fish in the pond (phrase)

The fish that he caught (clause)

WHAT ARE MODIFIERS?

Modifiers are word or a group of words that

describes, limits or qualifies the meaning of another word

or phrase.

Modifiers can be a word or a phrase or clause.

Example

1. He gave her the rose.He gave her the scarlet red rose

he picked from the sweet smelling garden.

2. She watched the sunset.She watched the blood red sun quickly sink below the horizon.

MODIFIERS ADD LIFE TO

SENTENCE

One cannot imagine a sentence without modifiers.

A sentence without modifiers can be very boring.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF MODIFIERS

• To add details to sentences

• To make sentences more interesting

• To create clear communications when correctly used.

Example

When used incorrectly modifiers can cause problems such as:

• Misplaced modifiers

• Dangling modifiers

USE OF MODIFIERS

Modifiers can be used for both in the good sense and

the bad sense.

Example

Covered in mud, Mark wiped off the trembling

puppy.

INCORRECT USE OF MODIFIERS

The incorrect modifiers can result in sentences that are

awkward, misleading or unintentionally humorous.

Example

Covered in mud, Mark wiped off the trembling

puppy.

MISPLACED MODIFIERS

Misplace modifiers are modifiers that are not put in

the right place in a sentence.

Example

Covered in mud, Mark wiped off the trembling puppy.

Who is covered in mud. The puppy is muddy but it sound like

Mark is covered in mud. How could we correct this sentence?

Correct sentence: Mark wiped off the trembling puppy covered

in mud.

MISPLACED MODIFIERS

They can describe the wrong word and can also change the

intended meaning of a sentence.

Example

Smelling sour, John threw away the food.

John is not smelling sour but the food is.

“Smelling sour” is the modifier and the “food” is

the item or word being modified.

AVOIDING MISPLACED MODIFIERS

To avoid misplaced modifiers, the modifier mist be placed

close to the item or word that it modifies.

ExampleOriginal sentence: Smelling sour, John threw away the

food.Corrected sentence: John

threw away the sour smelling food.

PLACING THE MODIFIER CORRECTLY

Sometime it is difficult to understand where to place the modifier in a sentence.

A close study of the sentence can help us correct it.

ExampleOriginal sentence: Broken

and dusty, Rita found an old compute in a garage.

Corrected sentence: In the garage, Rita found an old

computer that was broken and dusty.

PLACING THE MODIFIER

CORRECTLY IN COMPLICATED

SENTENCES

Sometimes it is difficult for the student to place the modifier correctly in a

sentence that is complicated.

Example

Original sentence: Hidden in a fortune cookie, sue found

the engagement ring.

Corrected sentence: Sue found the engagement ring hidden in a fortune cookie.

PLACING THE MODIFIER

CORRECTLY IN COMPLICATED

SENTENCES

The meaning of the sentence totally changes, if the

modifiers are not placed correctly.

ACTIVITY 1

Read the sentence carefully and rewrite it correctly:

1. Shooting laser out of his eyes, the mad scientist was no match for the robot.

2. Jamie decided that almost $ 20 was too much to pay for the ticket.

3. Sam followed the recipe, but the cake still came out exactly flat.

4. Wild and untamed, Jack entered the jungle.

ACTIVITY 1

Read the sentence carefully and rewrite it correctly:

5. Moaning in haunting voices, the house contained many ghosts.

6. Sam bought a used car from a local dealer with a smoky tailpipe

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 1

1. The doctor was no match to the robot shooting laser out of his eyes.

2. Jamie almost decided that $20 was too much to pay for the ticket.

3. Sam followed the recipe exactly, but the cake still came out flat.

4. Jack entered the wild and untamed jungle.

ANSWERS TO ACTIVITY 1

5. The house contained many ghosts that moaned in haunting voices.

6. Sam bought a used car with a smoky tailpipe from a local dealer.

WHAT ARE DANGLING MODIFIRES

When a modifier describes a word that is not appear in a sentence that modifier is called

dangling.

A dangling modifier is a word or phrase that modifies a word not clearly stated in the sentence. A modifier describes, clarifies, or gives more detail

about a concept.

CHARACTERISTICS OF DANGLING MODIFIRES

• The dangling modifiers most frequently occur at the beginning of a sentence.

• It is often an introductory clause or a phrase.

• Sometimes they also appear at the end of the sentences.

Example

Original sentence: Changing the oil every three thousand miles, the car

seemed to run better.

Modified sentence: Changing the oil every three thousand miles, Fred

found he could get better gas mileage.

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF

DANGLING MODIFIERS

OCCUR

Modifiers fall in love with anything they are next to.

Students need to make sure that the modifiers are next to

the word they ought to modify.

Example

Falling asleep, the car steered in to the bushes.

This sentence means that the car was asleep and it went into the bushes. Falling asleep is the modifier but the item being modified is missing. Let us

look at the correct sentence:Falling asleep, Trisha steered the car

into the trees.

The modifier: Falling asleepItem modified : Trisha

HOW DO DANGLING MODIFIERS

OCCUR

As already stated, dangling modifiers can occur in the

beginning or end of a sentence.

Example While waiting for the bus, the sky turned threatening.

Here the modifier “while waiting for the bus” is

dangling.

HOW TO FIND WHAT IS

WRONG IN A SENTENCE

A careful read to the sentence will help to

understand the mistake in a sentence.

Students will have to give some time to find out what is

wrong in a sentence.

EXAMPLE:

For the above sentence option 1 works the best.

While we waited for the bus, the sky turned

threatening.

CORRECTING A DANGLING MODIFIER

There are two ways to correct a dangling modifier:

• Insert a subject at the start of a sentence

• Insert a subject after the comma

Example

After running the marathon, exhaustion overcame me.

This sentence can be written in two ways:

Option 1: After I ran the marathon, exhaustion overcame me.

Option 2: After running the marathon, I was overcome by

exhaustion.

HOW TO INSERT A MISSING WORD

The student needs to understand which part of the

sentence is missing.

EXAMPLE:

While kneading the dough, the oven warmed up.

The subject is missing because we know that the oven cannot

knead the dough.

While Norma, kneaded the dough, the oven warmed up.

ADDING SUBJECT TO A

DANGLING SENTENCE

Sometimes in a sentence there is no subject due to

which the sentence has no meaning or the sentence lose it

meaning.

ACTIVITY 2Rearrange the following sentences correctly:

1. Having finished the main course, desserts were eaten.

2. After visiting the processing plant, mat will never seem the same again.

3. The fundraiser was a success, having run 100 laps for $ 10,000.

4. Using a variety of pedagogical techniques, the students were taught grammar.

ACTIVITY 2Rearrange the following sentences correctly:

5. To improve his essay, each page was proofread.

6. While reading the novel, the pages that contain important information should be marked.

7. To improve his results, the experiment was done again.

ANSWER TO ACTIVITY 2

1. Having finished the main course the family ate the desserts.

2. After visiting the processing plant, I will never see meat the same again.

3. The volunteers made fund raising a success, having run 100 laps for $ 10,000.

4. Using a variety of pedagogical techniques, the teacher taught the students grammar.

ANSWER TO ACTIVITY 2

5. To improve his essay, David proofread each page.

6. While reading the novel, you should mark the pages that contain important information.

7. He improved his result by doing the experiment again.

The end